Australian PM turns 68 with age an election issue

CANBERRA, July 25 (Reuters) Australian Prime Minister John Howard will turn 68 tomorrow with his age a growing political issue for the conservative government ahead of elections expected within months.

Howard, already Australia's second-longest serving prime minister, will become the second-oldest prime minister, behind the ruling Liberal Party's founder Robert Menzies, who was 71 when he left office in 1966.

But opinion polls suggest the government is headed for defeat at elections due before the end of the year, with Howard at risk of losing his own seat.

The opposition says his government is out of touch on key issues such as climate change and housing affordability for young buyers.

While the economy has boomed during Howard's four successive terms, living costs have also soared.

Some commentators have suggested Howard has held on to power too long and should now hand over to his heir apparent, Treasurer Peter Costello, to give the conservatives a chance of winning a fifth straight election.

But Howard today stuck to his mantra that he would remain prime minister as long as his party wanted him, and as long as it was in the party's best interests.

''I'll say it 200 times if necessary,'' a stubborn Howard told an Australian radio interviewer today, refusing to alter the answer he has used on retirement questions for several years.

Howard will celebrate his birthday with a lightning visit to East Timor tomorrow, where he will meet Australian peacekeepers and hold talks with newly elected President Jose-Ramos Horta.

He will then visit the Indonesian island of Bali on Friday, where he is set to hold talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and open a hospital built in memory of the victims of the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings.

AGE ISSUES Over the past six months, Australia's main centre-left Labor opposition has attacked Howard's age by portraying him as old fashioned and out of touch, compared to its youthful new leader Kevin Rudd, who is 18 years younger than the prime minister.

Labor has run television and internet adds attacking Howard for being slow to react on issues such as climate change, with Australia alongside the United States refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol or set binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

In a bid to counter perceptions he is not up with modern modern culture, Howard a week ago launched an environment policy on the popular youth Web site YouTube, although the reaction was overwhelmingly negative.

''Less than a year ago you were denying that Global Warming existed. Now through public and industrial pressure you've caved in.

Most of us remember it all. Too late,'' wrote YouTube contributor acrtivistgirl1.

Over the past month, the media has scrutinised every Howard slip for signs of ageing, including Howard forgetting the name of an election candidate, and tripping on a visit to a radio station, blamed on a slippery floor rather than unsteady legs.

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said leaked Labor Party focus group research found voters believed Howard was ''past his used-by date'' and should retire, with an editorial saying the prime minister needs to overcome his age problem.

''As he turns 68 this week, the PM must make a convincing argument that his age is not a barrier to his running the country as well as he ever has,'' the paper said.

But political analyst Nick Economou said attacks on Howard's age would not work, as the prime minister, who power-walks every day, still had plenty of energy and had shown he was still fit enough to fight what is shaping up as a tough election.

''He's still a robust man. He's a fighter. He'll defend his position as much as he can,'' Economou, from Monash University, told Reuters.

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