Fed: Crean confident of support if domestic issues are a focus

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Fed: Crean confident of support if domestic issues are a focus

CANBERRA, April 3 AAP - Labor would hold its position and may win more federal seatsif it could focus community attention on domestic issues at the next election, OppositionLeader Simon Crean said today.

Mr Crean downplayed the significance of the latest polling which shows his supporthas plummeted to a record low, sparking speculation Labor could lose up to 18 seats ifan election was called now.

At a press conference at Canberra Hospital where he condemned the government's healthpolicy, Mr Crean said Australians cared little about popularity contests.

The public was more concerned about issues like health, he said.

"These are the issues that matter most to the Australian public, not the question ofleadership in the Labor Party, that's what the people are asking out there in the street,"

Mr Crean said.

"They are saying 'What's happening to my bulk-billing options, why can't I get a doctorthat bulk bills, why did this government promise to keep bulk-billing and Medicare butthen ratted on that promise.

"They are the issues I want to address."

Mr Crean said the government had hidden from domestic issues at the last election,using the Tampa crisis as a cover.

It continued to hide from domestic issues in its current term by using the fog of war, he said.

"The Australian public ... will see through this government," he said.

"Not only will we hold seats but we will win them if we can focus the public's mindon these domestic issues."

He said Labor would begin making more policy announcements once the war was over.

When asked why opposition to the war was failing to translate into greater supportfor Labor, Mr Crean said it depended whether the war was still an issue at the next election.

"It's going to be a question over time as to whether the issue of war is the matterthat switches votes in the Australian public's mind," he said.

"If the war is still going, it may well be an issue at the time of the election."

AAP so/sb/tnf/de

KEYWORD: CREAN POLL