Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question again is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister be up-front with the Australian people and tell them whether he intends to serve a full three-year term if he is chosen to lead this country at the upcoming election?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday the Leader of the Opposition asked me to name the election date. Today he has asked me another question and I remind him of part of the answer I gave to an earlier question—that is, when the election comes along, the Australian people will decide first and foremost their future, because their future is more important than mine or more important than the future of the Leader of the Opposition. But in the process of deciding their future they will also decide the future of the Leader of the Opposition and my future as well. I might say to the Leader of the Opposition that after what I have seen from Peter Beattie and Steve Bracks, I would have thought that time-specific pledges about how long people are going to serve are at tatty discount in Australian politics.