Gillard, Abbott focus on future: Hewson

Both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott are trying to move forward and leave their pasts
behind, former Liberal leader John Hewson says.
Australians will head to the polls on August 21 after the prime minister visited the
governor-general on Saturday.
"Both of them are hopeful that they can draw a line in the sand of their past and
actually be judged on what they do from now on," Dr Hewson told Sky News.
But it will be a challenge for Mr Abbott to distance himself from Work Choices,
Labor strategist Bruce Hawker said.
"As for Tony Abbott I think he's just trying to wash away the stench of Work
Choices," he told Sky News.
"And unfortunately for him Work Choices is really part of his DNA and I think it's
going to be very hard for him no matter how much he protests, what assurances for
him to convince the electorate."
Mr Abbott had to try and differentiate himself on three or four different policies
rather than just rely solely on sustaining criticism of Labor's failures in
government, Dr Hewson said.
"Julia has to come with her own stamp now, she has to come with two or three areas
which are not fixing up problems of the past, not asylum seekers or mining taxes."
Ms Gillard is the frontrunner going into the poll and it is hers to lose, Dr Hewson
said.
The government had acknowledged its failures could point to low unemployment and low
interest rates during the campaign, Mr Hawker said.
"They are very powerful messages for people," he said.
Moving forward was the best slogan for the incumbent Labor government, Mr Hawker said.
"The other side of moving us forward is taking us backwards and that's a real
problem area for Tony Abbott because of his period very recently as a health
minister and workplace minister in the Howard government."
Dr Hewson said state Labor governments being on the nose could be an issue for
federal Labor, if voters did not differentiate between the two.
But Mr Hawker said it was more likely to work in reverse: if a federal leader was on
the nose, it would impact state polls.