 Australian Prime Minister John Howard urged government lawmakers on Tuesday not to be spooked by slumping opinion polls at the start of an election year, saying history still favoured a conservative victory. After 11 years in power and four election wins, Howard's government saw its support slipping to its lowest level in six years on Tuesday as the centre-left Labour opposition recorded a sustained boost under new leader Kevin Rudd. With an election due in the second half of 2007, Howard told a meeting of ruling lawmakers on Tuesday that the government could win another term by promoting strong economic management and its tough stand on national security. "History is on our side in that there has been no change of government since World War Two without the loss of confidence in the government," a party spokesman quoted Howard, 67, as telling the closed meeting of government lawmakers. "People think we run the economy well, and they broadly agree with us on national security," he said, adding that the youthful Rudd was still enjoying a "honeymoon" period with voters. The latest Newspoll found support for Labour continued to surge in February, giving the party its biggest lead since early 2001 on the back of Rudd's promises to bring Australian troops home from Iraq and sign the Kyoto protocol on climate change. Newspoll, published in the Australian newspaper, found Labour held a 12-point lead with 56 percent support compared to 44 percent for the government on a two-party basis, where minority votes are distributed to the main parties and ultimately decide the election. The poll found Labour, which last won national government in 1993, also held a strong primary or first-count vote lead, with 47 percent support to 38 percent for the government. Howard's conservatives won a 27-seat majority at the last election in October 2004 with 44.1 percent of the primary vote and 52.7 percent of the two-party preferred vote. The poll also found Rudd, 49 and just two months in the job, trailing Howard by just one point, 39 to 40 percent, as preferred prime minister, eroding Howard's long-term solid lead on the issue. Rudd played down the significance of the polls on Tuesday and said Labour had a lot of work to do ahead of the election. "I know that there's a huge amount of work still to be done but we've got our sleeves rolled up," Rudd told Australian radio. The next election is due in the second half of 2007 and Howard is widely expected to call it for October or November. Labour must win 16 more seats in parliament to win power. Howard faced a similar slump in the polls in early 2001 but clawed back support to win the election that November, driven by his tough stand on illegal immigration and on national security in the aftermath of the Sept 11 attacks on the United States.