When a massive bomb exploded at the entrance of Australia's heavily fortified embassy in Jakarta Sept. 9, it rattled what had been a fairly pedestrian election campaign. Whether it was timed to unnerve Australian voters, influence the Sept. 20 Indonesian presidential election or mark the third anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the blast and its victims - including a gravely injured five-year-old Australian girl - skittled economic analysis off the front pages.
Before the bombing, says Sol Lebovic, managing director of Newspoll, national security ranked third as an issue behind education and health. It hadn't been prominent in the...
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