Truce in Australian leadership row
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- A new poll shows satisfaction with Australian Prime Minister John Howard has increased, tightening the leader's grip on power as he seeks a truce in a leadership row with his deputy.
A Newspoll taken over the weekend shows that Howard and his centre-right government have strong voter support, seven months after the Australian federal election.
The poll, which comes amid a leadership row between the Prime Minister and his deputy, Treasurer Peter Costello, also shows Howard has a clear lead over his Labor rival, Opposition leader Kim Beazley.
The poll could not have come at a better time for Howard, who sparked a damaging leadership row with his deputy after comments he made at the weekend that he wanted to stay and fight the next election in 2007.
A meeting between Howard and Costello in Sydney on Monday to discuss the forthcoming federal budget -- and the leadership problem -- appeared to achieve little to heal the rift.
Costello told reporters after the meeting that he had asked Howard for an "orderly transition" for the government's top job, according to Reuters news agency.
Howard has tried to downplay his comments and has stated he still expected Costello to take over as leader one day, but maintains that he has not detected a mood for change at the top since the last election.
Since the tensions, Costello has refused to rule out a leadership challenge but few believe he has the numbers in the party room to win.
There has also been speculation in political circles that Costello could walk away from the Treasurer's job -- a position he has held for a decade -- by the end of the year.
The Newspoll taken over the weekend and published Tuesday shows Howard with a commanding 21 point lead as preferred prime minister over Beazley.
Voter satisfaction with Howard's performance as prime minister increased by two points over the past two weeks, and support for his coalition government is steady at the levels of last year's election.
Howard won his fourth straight election victory on October 9 last year. Since then, Beazley reassumed the role of Opposition leader after former Labor leader Mark Latham resigned from the job and politics.
