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The article focuses on the political success of Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Hillsong is said to be Australia's fastest-growing church. Pastor Brian Houston, who founded Hillsong, once wrote a book called "You Need More Money". It may be tempting to dismiss Hillsong as an extreme example of "prosperity Christianity" and ignore it, but Howard and his Liberals certainly have not. Australia's evangelical churches may be booming, but the country still embraces staunchly liberal values. The attention paid to Hillsong is a symptom of something much broader: Howard and his party have understood, and profited from, a big shift in Australian attitudes.

The article discusses the victory of Kevin Rudd over the Liberal Party's John Howard to become Australia's Prime Minister. Howard had led the Liberal party to its worst rout in its 63-year history with his divisive approach to politics. Rudd handpicked his first ministry on November 29, 2007, not following the tradition that right and left party factions should be consulted first. The article also presents public opinions of Rudd and what he will have to face as prime minister.

John Howard, Australia's prime minister, is seeking a fourth term for his conservative coalition government. However, 43 of Australia's former defence and diplomatic chiefs have attacked him for what they described as his deception of the Australian people. Their charge, in a statement on August 8th, had to do with "false assumptions" behind Howard's commitment of Australian troops to the Iraq war--about 850 of them are still there. Howard's assertion last year that Australia had moved on from the Iraq war may turn out to have been wishful thinking. The murkiness surrounding Australia's involvement suggests the issue is likely to damage the government in the election campaign. The prime minister's credibility on Iraq and other issues has also brought pressure from a more unsettling front. John Valder, a former president of the conservative Liberal Party, which Howard leads, has launched a campaign to defeat Howard in his Sydney electorate of Bennelong. Valder is not standing himself, but is urging voters in the Liberal Party's heartland to support other Bennelong candidates.

Reports on the victory of the conservative Liberal-National coalition in Australia, led by Prime Minister John Howard, in the November 10, 2001 election. Discussion of the outlook for Howard's third consecutive term as prime minister; Issue of his border security policy and economic management agenda; Outlook for the opposition Labor Party.

The article focuses on Australian politics and Prime Minister John Howard. His electoral popularity has climbed to the point where he has never seemed more in control nor, at the age of 66, more determined to plough on. Mr Howard brushes aside questions about retirement by insisting that he will stay as long as his conservative Liberal Party wants him. This means that he is likely to contest a fifth election, due in late 2007. And another win would put him in sight of equalling the achievement of Sir Robert Menzies, Australia's longest-serving prime minister (a total of 18 years), the Liberal Party's founder and Mr Howard's hero.

The article focuses on Mark Latham, who led Australia's opposition Labor Party to its fourth successive election defeat. As Latham faced the task of rebuilding Labor, no fewer than six of his senior parliamentary colleagues announced that they were no longer prepared to serve in his shadow cabinet. Some senior people, such as the shadow finance minister, Bob McMullan, withdrew to the parliamentary backbench after bitter arguments with Latham over the election loss. As Latham tried to assemble a new shadow cabinet, Labor's power struggles between its left and right factions erupted, at one point almost stripping him of authority. Finally, as John Howard, leader of the conservative coalition government was being sworn in for his fourth term as prime minister, Latham announced his new team. Most attention focused on Wayne Swan and Stephen Smith, both from the right, who will handle the crucial issues of economic policy and industrial relations. Latham has indicated that he will start by trying to recapture Labor's credentials on economic policy.

Three years ago, Prime Minister John Howard ordered armed troops to ward off the Tampa, a Norwegian cargo vessel that had rescued Afghan asylum-seekers from the sea off western Australia. He declared that none would set foot in Australia and consigned them to high-security camps on the islands of Nauru and Papua New Guinea. The Tampa affair, followed by the terrorist attacks on America in September 2001, helped Howard win his third election a few months later. A report in May by Australia's human-rights and equal-opportunities commission concluded that Australia's treatment of child detainees had breached its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The government recently released all bar one boat child from mainland detention camps, though 19 remain on Nauru. The strongest reason for the policy change has probably been the discovery that asylum-seekers can be good for the economy. Many of those with temporary visas have found jobs as fruit pickers and slaughterhouse workers, helping to keep several towns alive.