世界杯期間“章魚保羅”八猜八中的驕人成績使得世界各地涌現了不少章魚的粉絲，各國都涌現了用章魚來預測重大事件的熱潮。近日，澳大利亞女總理剛剛宣布要參加8月的大選，便有媒體推出了名為“卡珊德拉”的神奇“章魚妹”來預測大選結果，稱杰拉德將獲勝。當地媒體報道說，“章魚妹”很看好新近上臺的工黨美女領袖杰拉德，在預測時用她長長的手臂抱住了杰拉德的照片。吉拉德上月取代陸克文出任工黨領袖和總理。她上臺后致力修正陸克文的不受歡迎政策，令工黨支持率回升。

The Sydney Morning Herald showed off "Cassandra" just as Ms Gillard told the Australian people that they would go to national elections on August 21.

An Australian newspaper has taken a leaf out of the football World Cup play book, unveiling its own "psychic" octopus that it says has predicted Prime Minister Julia Gillard will win next month's poll.

The Sydney Morning Herald showed off "Cassandra" just as Ms Gillard told the Australian people that they would go to national elections on August 21.

The paper hopes Cassandra will rival the predictive powers of "Paul", a German octopus that called a string of results including the World Cup winner.

"Cassandra's preference for Julia Gillard was clear," the newspaper said. "Despite being a solitary animal, she wrapped her long arms around the Prime Minister," it said next to a photo of the octopus wound around a picture of Gillard.

But the octopus's reaction to conservative Opposition leader Tony Abbott's photo was less enthusiastic - she turned a "defensive black colour", the paper said.

Marine science expert Professor Rob Harcourt however warned that as octopuses have "episodic personalities", Cassandra could change her eight-tentacled vote at any time.

"On any given day, an octopus may be bold in all situations and then shy and timid the next day," he told the paper.

Melbourne's Herald Sun beat the SMH by a week with the concept, however, taking the election question to the Melbourne Aquarium to let the giant octopuses there decide.

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(Agencies)

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）