Australian Prime Minister John Howard lied to voters on a key immigration issue on the eve of his 2001 re-relection, an Australian parliamentary inquiry has found.
Mr Howard's government won a third term in November 2001 with a hardline stand against illegal immigrants. It justified the stance with a claim boatpeople had thrown their children overboard in a bid to gain asylum.
His conservative government was returned again for a fourth term with an increased majority at an October 9 election this year.
In August, just before Mr Howard called that election, former defence adviser Mike Scrafton said he had told the prime minister in November 2001 that there was no evidence to support the "children overboard" claim.
An upper house Senate committee began an inquiry into Mr Scrafton's claims, with hearings dominating the first week of the six-week election campaign.
"The committee finds Mr Scrafton's claim that he told the prime minister on November 7, 2001, that there was no evidence to substantiate the 'children overboard' story credible," the inquiry found.
"The clear implication of his evidence is that the prime minister misled the Australian public in the lead-up to the 2001 federal election," it said.
Mr Howard made no comment on the inquiry's findings on Thursday, but has been adamant that he was never told the "children overboard" claims were false.