Friday, July 16, 2010

Aug 28 election tipped to be called tomorrow


Speculation is mounting that Prime Minister Julia Gillard is about to announce an August 28 election.

There are reports Ms Gillard will visit Governor-General Quentin Bryce in Canberra tomorrow morning to call the election.

The ABC has reported Ms Gillard will delay issuing the writs for the election until Wednesday, to allow more time for people to update - or join - the electoral roll and be eligible to vote.

She is expected to travel to Queensland after calling the election.

After visiting Tasmania today, Ms Gillard has travelled to every Australian state and territory since becoming Prime Minister. She was asked if this meant her next call would be on the Governor-General.

"What it means is that I thought it was important for me, as the new Prime Minister, to move around the country and to have the opportunity to meet with our local members, to talk to community members, to be out and about talking about the issues that matter to Australians,'' she said.

''I'm not engaging in election speculation. But whenever the election is called, there will be a very clear choice about whether Australia moves forward or back.''

Ms Bryce revealed earlier this week that she was postponing a planned overseas trip from today until tomorrow, and cutting it short by a few days because she wanted to "minimise her absence from Australia'' because she had "constitutional responsibilities'' when the election was called.

The latest polls show Labor is well placed to win the election. The Nielsen and Galaxy polls put it ahead of the Coalition 52-48 on a two-party preferred basis.

Source: The Canberra Times

0 comments:

Post a Comment