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Age does not matter - Howard
19/02/2007 09:39 - (SA)
Canberra - Australia's prime minister, who is likely to turn 68 before he calls elections this year, said on Monday his age is irrelevant to his ability to lead.
"I don't think age matters," Prime Minister John Howard told Perth radio 6PR.
"It's the relevance of somebody's ideas and the capacity of somebody's intellect to embrace new ideas that count rather than your precise age," said Australia's second-longest-serving prime minister.
"There are some people who are old at 40. There are other people who have the same physical and mental agility at double that age - that's just human nature," he added.
Howard's hearing is failing although much younger people have difficulty keeping pace with him during his brisk morning walks.
One of the longest-serving lawmakers in the parliament, Howard has been under pressure from his 49-year-old deputy in the ruling Liberal Party, Peter Costello, to step aside.
Howard, who has his 68th birthday in July, declared last year that he intends to run for a fifth three-year term as the nation's leader in elections he will call late this year.
Commentators agree that the elections are likely to be after Howard hosts the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' forum in his hometown of Sydney in September.
Howard said his newfound enthusiasm for introducing nuclear power to Australia is an example of the relevance of his ideas.
The anti-nuclear policy of the opposition Labour Party, led by 49-year-old Kevin Rudd, was a "relic of the 1970s, even the 1960s", Howard said.
- AP
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