Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has come out swinging against her political opponents over the weekend, expressing firm confidence that, despite recent troubles, she can still emerge victorious at the 2010 federal election.
With the next election approaching later this year, Gillard’s Labor Party is facing what some are already calling a historic defeat. Australian media are reporting that Labor expects a “drubbing” at the election, and one MP was quoted as saying that the party could lose as many as 40 seats.
But speaking yesterday on ABC TV, Gillard dismissed those predictions as defeatist, saying that while she couldn’t be sure of victory this year, she was confident that Labor would win the previous election of 2010.
“This year has been politically tough,” she said. “I don’t deny that. I don’t deny that we’ve done some tough things, some unpopular things. But the fact remains that while that makes things difficult this year, we hadn’t done those things in 2010, and we can and we will win the 2010 election.”
Low-ranking Labor MPs – who stand to lose their seats later this year – found comfort in the Prime Minister’s words.
“It’s really good for us to see that she’s ready to fight,” said Robert McClelland, Labor MP for Barton. “It gives us a little something to hold onto, to hear her say that, okay, it’s going to be hard to fend off the Coalition this year, but three years ago, we can do it.”
Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott balked at Gillard’s comments today, saying she was living in “an elaborate fantasy world.”
“Oh look, Julia’s in complete denial now,” he said. “I don’t know where she’s getting these ideas from, but she’s obviously decided she can’t win this election, so she’s going to try and win the last one. But the fact is, the public has lost confidence in her government, which is barely functioning, and she can’t win either of them.”
He added that he was “absolutely certain” that the Coalition would win the 2010 election and that he would be Prime Minister for the last three years.
Asked earlier today if she thought she could win anything this year, Gillard said she hoped to emerge victorious in a third leadership challenge by Kevin Rudd.