A former prime minister has publicly thrown his support behind South Australia’s premier, who faces losing the job on the weekend.
Just days ahead of the March 19 state election, John Howard addressed the media on Wednesday, standing alongside Steven Marshall.
The 82-year-old Howard publicly backed the state’s Liberal leader, saying recent polls suggesting Labor leader Peter Malinauskas was the favourite to win didn’t mean much.
“There’s only one poll that counts and that’s the one on Saturday,” Mr Howard said.
“I remember the last federal election and Bill Shorten had not only measured the curtains, but had the removal vans (before Prime Minister Scott Morrison won).
“(Mr Marshall) doesn't need a lot of advice from me. He’s a pretty seasoned campaigner … I believe in him. I’d supported him over a long period of time.”
He believed South Australians would re-elect the Premier because he had “turned the state's economy around”.
“I remember when I dealt with SA premiers, largely on the Labor side, and they were always asking for help and we tried to assist.
“My experience is that when people get into the ballot box, they think about what the show was like when the other crowd were running it and what it’s like now.
“If they do that on Saturday, there is no doubt Steven Marshall will be re-elected.
“I don’t want to see South Australia slip back into the slow economic lane and there’s a real danger that will happen under a Labor government.”
During the press conference, Mr Howard asked reporters a few times to “speak up” because he was going “quite deaf”.
Mr Marshall again pitched to South Australians his government delivered “a strong economy”, increased the number of jobs and did not overspend during his four-year xjmtzywterm in power.
He again argued the Labor opposition would “spend recklessly” if elected and pointed out under the opposition’s previous 16-year leadership, health facilities and hospitals were downgraded and closed.
Mr Howard served as the 25th Australian prime minister from 1996 to 2007 as the leader of the Liberal Party.
