- The opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) is the top political organization in the country, according to a Newspoll published in The Australian. 41 per cent of respondents would vote for the ALP in the next legislative election, while 39 per cent would support the governing Coalition of Liberals and Nationals.

The Australian Greens are third with six per cent. Australia's preferential voting system—where electors indicate an order of predilection for each contender, and the ballots from smaller parties are re-distributed—gives the ALP a six-point lead over the Coalition.

In the October 2004 election, prime minister John Howard was rewarded with a fourth term in office, as the Coalition secured 87 seats in the House of Representatives. The ALP—led by Mark Latham—elected 60 lawmakers. In January 2005, Kim Beazley took over as opposition leader. Beazley commanded the ALP from March 1996 to November 2001.

On Sept. 15, Howard expressed his views on capital punishment, saying, "I'm against the death penalty. I'm certainly against the death penalty being applied to Australians. (...) If you're going back to my reaction in relation to the Bali bombers, I cannot find it in my heart to publicly ask the Indonesian government to spare the lives of the people who murdered 88 Australians. I'm sorry, but if people think that means I've got a double standard, and some will say that, I will have to cop that criticism."

A man known as Amrozi was sentenced to death by an Indonesian court for his role in the 2002 Bali bombing. In December 2005, Australian citizen Nguyen Tuong Van was executed in Singapore for heroin smuggling.

Polling Data

If a federal election to the House of Representatives were held today, which one of the following would you vote for? If "Uncommitted", to which one of these do you have a leaning?

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