Poll: Aussie voters show little support for minister who wants to be PM
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australian voters have shown little support for their ambitious finance minister who wants to lead the nation, according to an opinion poll published Tuesday - just days after he ruled out a challenge to the leadership of Prime Minister John Howard.
Treasurer Peter Costello also lagged well behind Opposition Leader Mark Latham as the nation's preferred prime minister, the nationwide Newspoll showed.
Howard's conservative coalition government has slumped in opinion polls in recent weeks, fueling speculation that Costello would try to topple 64-year-old Howard before a federal election due later this year.
Costello ruled out a challenge last week, but Health Minister Tony Abbott - considered by some analysts to be another possible successor - said Sunday that eventually Costello would lead the Liberal Party and Australia.
Howard has said repeatedly he will stay in the job as long as his party wants him, but also continues to tout Costello as his most likely successor.
The Newspoll published in Tuesday's edition of The Australian newspaper showed 63 percent of 1,200 voters surveyed felt Howard was the best person to lead the nation, compared to 20 percent support for Costello.
Among coalition voters, Costello had only 7 percent backing him as a future prime minister.
Latham is also much more popular than Costello, with 52 percent support among voters compared to the treasurer's 28 percent.
The poll, which was conducted March 12-14, did not give a margin of error.
The survey did not compare support between Latham and Howard, but the last Newspoll that tested the issue on March 5-7 showed 44 percent of voters preferred the incumbent as prime minister compared to 39 percent for Latham. - AP
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