Four days out from a close election, Australian Prime Minister John Howard sought to bring attention back to national security on Tuesday with an unusual plan for an Asia-Pacific spy school to counter terrorist threats.
National security and the war in Iraq have been among the top issues ahead of Saturday's poll and Howard, a close ally of President George W. Bush, has moved to tighten the nation's defences and intelligence after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
"Australia and Australian interests continue to be terrorist targets," Howard said in a statement.
"Timely and credible intelligence is the best defence against terrorism and effective co-operation with our regional neighbours in intelligence sharing is critical to our national security."
Nine people were killed last month in a suicide bomb attack outside Australia's embassy in the Indonesian capital. In October 2002, the bombings of night-clubs on the Indonesian island of Bali killed 202 people, 88 of them Australians.
Howard said he would strengthen the capacity of the chief spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, to check on people wanting to enter the country.
The A$20 million ($14 million) Centre for Counter-Terrorism Co-operation and Joint Intelligence Training will oversee the deployment of Australian spies to work with their counterparts in the region and also play host to foreign intelligence agents.
Howard says the alliance with the United States is the cornerstone of Australia's national security and in 1999 he sparked regional criticism when he characterised Australia as a US "deputy sheriff" in Asia.
But opposition Labour leader Mark Latham has accused Howard of making Australia less safe by taking a leading role in the US-led war in Iraq.
Latham has said he wants Australia's troops in and around Iraq home by Christmas, saying resources would be better spent fighting the war on terror in Australia's Asia-Pacific backyard.
Howard is adamant the 850 troops will remain as long as necessary but has said he does not expect to be asked by the United States to increase Australia's force.
Australia's election has attracted international attention as it precedes the US presidential vote on November 2 and Britain's ballot, widely expected to be called in May or June, which are set to be fought largely on security and the US-led Iraq war.
Howard alarmed several of his Asian neighbours early in the campaign when he repeated his view that pre-emptive action in another country was a legitimate response to terrorism and said he wanted to set up counter-terrorism teams in Southeast Asia.
Australia's robust economy, one of the industrialised world's strongest, has been the main issue during the campaign. But health, education and the environment have also been concerns.
Howard is hoping to win a fourth straight term when Australia's 13 million voters go to the polls. But on Tuesday he said he faced a tough battle despite an opinion poll showing his conservative government ahead of the opposition.
A Newspoll showed that the Liberal/National coalition government held a one-point lead over Labour on a two-party preferred basis, where minor party votes are given to major parties and ultimately decide an election.
But the survey, published in the Australian newspaper, also found Howard's government had opened up a seven-point lead on a primary vote basis, or first count of votes, with only 46 percent support compared to Labour's 39 percent.
"John Howard has been haring out there and we've been going like the tortoise. I think gradually, slowly, we'll get there to that finishing line," Labour defence spokesman Kim Beazley told reporters in the western city of Perth.
Late on Tuesday one of Howard's key advisers, Health Minister Tony Abbott, was rushed to hospital with abdominal pains while campaigning in northern New South Wales state.
Abbott, a fiery fitness fanatic, was to have surgery to remove a small kidney stone overnight and was expected to be released from hospital on Wednesday, his spokesman said.
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