Aussie voters prefer to see Labor leader nude-poll

MELBOURNE, Nov 11 (Reuters) More Australian voters would like to see Labor Opposition leader Kevin Rudd naked than their current prime minister, John Howard, a poll showed today just two weeks out from a hard-fought general election.

The question was posed in a Galaxy poll of 1,200 voters and published in Zoo magazine, the Australian Associated Pres reported.

The survey found 34 per cent of respondents wanted to see Rudd, 50, with his gear off, more than double the 16 per cent who said the same thing about Howard, 68.

Even Howard's usually strong following among the over 50s slipped, with the poll showing just 16 per cent wanted to see him naked compared with 27 percent for Rudd.

''No one wants a prime minister who doesn't look good naked,'' Zoo editor Paul Merrill was quoted as saying.

More conventional polls have consistently shown Howard's conservative government trailing well behind Labor, although the gap has narrowed slightly ahead of the November 24 general election.

REUTERS GL ND1022