Stateline Western Australia

23/11/2007

The countdown to the Federal Election

The Prime Minister John Howard, and the Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, have wrapped up their final day of campaigning with predictions that tomorrow's poll result will be close. In his final pitch, the Prime Minister urged voters not to change just because he's been in office for 11.5 years, and has pointed to his economic record. Kevin Rudd has pledged to keep the economy strong and has stuck to his message that it's time for new leadership and a new direction. Despite the leader's forecasts of a close result, opinion polls continue to point to a convincing win for Labor, and senior figures on both sides say privately they're anticipating an historic landslide for the ALP. The 2007 election campaign has been long, highly orchestrated and subjected to unprecedented media management by both sides.

Julie Bishop and Stephen Smith debate the issues

With four very marginal seats at play in Western Australia, the campaigning here has been relentless. The battle ground seats are Hasluck, Stirling, Swan and Cowan. All are on margins of two per cent or less. The Education Minister, Julie Bishop, and the member for Perth, Labor's education spokesman, Stephen Smith joined Stateline to discuss the campaign and the likely result.

Grounded for 70 years - The Silver Centenary makes a triumphant return to the sky

The early days of Australian aviation are filled with romantic and daring adventures of pilots like Norman Brearley and Charles Kingsford-Smith. But there's another name that should be added to the list of luminaries to complete the story of Australian flight. The tale begins and ends in the small town of Beverley where, with no formal technical training, Selby Avon Ford produced Western Australia's first privately built aeroplane. Now the old bird has been rebuilt by Ford's grandson, whose dream was to take to the air in the plane, which became known as the Silver Centenary.