Australian Prime Minister John Howard, facing crushing defeat at a November election, promised A$34 billion ($30 billion) in tax cuts on Monday a day after calling the poll.

The largesse would be delivered on the back of stronger than expected economic growth, which will bring the government a budget windfall of some A$12.5 billion over the next four years.

With polls pointing to an opposition Labor landslide, Howard's deputy, Treasurer Peter Costello, said the conservative government would deliver tax cuts worth A$20 a week to ordinary wage earners from July 2008, rising to A$35 a week in 2010.

"This plan is all about further building and growing the Australian economy, it's about creating more not less jobs," Howard said in his first big campaign promise, warning the boom times would be at risk if Labor took office.

Costello predicted Australia's economy would grow by 4.25 percent in 2007/08, up from a previous estimate of 3.75 percent, but inflation would remain within the central bank's 2-3 percent target.

Opinion polls yesteray showed Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd's Labor party ahead of the conservative government by 56 percent to 44 percent.

Howard, 68, is fighting to overturn a mood among voters for change despite the country enjoying a 16-year expansion, unemployment at 33-year lows and previous tax cuts worth A$110 billion ($100 billion).

Rate hikes blunt pitch

But Howard's pitch of continued prosperity and more jobs has been blunted by a string of interest rate hikes to 6.5 percent, hurting bedrock conservative support in mortgage-saddled suburbs.

The Newspoll survey showed support for Rudd, 50, a former diplomat to China, was strengthening as preferred prime minister at 48 percent.

After Rudd caught the public's attention during APEC by speaking to Chinese President Hu Jintao in fluent Mandarin, prominent think tank the Lowy Institute published an Australian Voters' International Policy Guide in a sign Australia's involvement in the Iraq war and other global developments will affect the election outcome.

Agencies

(China Daily 10/16/2007 page11)