Australian Ruling Party Leads in Polls

SYDNEY, Australia — The ruling Labor Party holds a comfortable lead in the campaign for Australia’s national election next month despite opposition promises of big cuts in taxes and spending, public opinion polls showed Friday.

A Sydney Morning Herald survey in the key states of New South Wales and Victoria showed a majority of voters found the tax plan unveiled two days earlier by opposition leader John Howard attractive but unworkable. In a nationwide survey by the Australian newspaper, an overwhelming majority said Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke would manage the country’s economy, industrial relations, taxation and social welfare better than the opposition.