Howard's latest stumble on day of pain
Howard's latest stumble on day of pain
By ninemsn staff
John Howard has topped off a horror day by tripping over in front of the media while walking into a Perth radio station.
Mr Howard fell onto his hands and knees while walking up stairs outside the 6PR studios.
He quickly recovered his composure and sprang to his feet unassisted, before continuing into the radio station.
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In the latest Newspoll, released today, Labor still holds a 10-point lead after a fortnight of bad publicity for the government.
Mr Howard suffered futher indignity this morning when he was accosted by Big Brother evictee Michelle, the least-popular contestant in the show's history.
On a dare from a local FM radio, Michelle followed Mr Howard on his morning walk, repeatedly shouting "I love you Johnny" as the Prime Minister attempted to cross the road.
In arguably better news for Mr Howard, today's Newspoll found that any last-ditch effort to replace him with Treasurer Peter Costello would not turn around the coalition's fortunes.
Nearly one in three voters say such a change would make them less likely to vote for the coalition, while 60 percent of those polled said it would make no difference to their vote.
Mr Howard ruled out stepping aside before the next election, despite the government's terrible poll results.
"I'll give you the honest answer — I'll continue in that job for as long as my party wants me to and it's in the party's best interests that I do so," he said.
Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said the disarray in Liberal ranks was behind the government's poor showing in opinion polls.
Mr Rudd, who is campaigning in Tasmania, said he was not concerned about Liberal Party tactics ahead of the election.
"I'm completely relaxed about what tactics the Liberals want to adopt," Mr Rudd told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
"The truth is that they are in quite a degree of internal disarray at the moment.
"Remember, Mr Howard is the one who told the country that disunity is death in politics and there's a fair bit of disunity in the Liberal Party at the moment.
Leadership tensions re-emerged last week when excerpts from a new biography of Mr Howard were published in which Mr Costello made disparaging remarks about Mr Howard's record as treasurer.
with AAP
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