Australian Troops to Stay in Iraq

I said I had faith in the Aussies as they began going to the polls Down Under, and they redeemed that faith.

Now, fresh off his victory, Prime Minister John Howard has firmly entrenched his country as one of our staunchest allies.

Australian troops will stay in Iraq (news – web sites), Prime Minister John Howard declared Monday, as the stock market in Sydney hit a record high following the conservative leader’s election to a historic fourth term.

At his first news conference since Saturday’s election increased the parliament majority of his center-right coalition, Howard said his priorities were guarding the nation’s security, working with allies to fight terrorism and maintaining the booming economy.

The victory was a resounding vote of confidence in the government’s handling of Australia’s economy, which has low inflation, unemployment and interest rates, a budget surplus and low government debt.

All this despite the antics of John Kerry’s sister.

It should be noted that not all of Howard’s opposition have decided to take the results gracefully.

Voter ignorance, greed and apathy returned the Coalition to government, a South Australian Greens MP said today.

Kris Hanna, a former state Labor backbencher who joined the Greens last year, today said he was disappointed with the majority of Australian voters.

“(Labor Leader Mark) Latham did his best to offer an alternative but too many Australians were not discerning or caring enough to vote (Prime Minister John) Howard out,” Mr Hanna said.

Mr. Hanna missed his true calling as a Florida Democrat.