CANBERRA: Australian election would be held on September 14, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced on Wednesday, saying she wanted to give “shape and order” to the year.
“I do so not to start the nation’s longest election campaign, quite the opposite,” Gillard, whose minority government holds power by only a narrow margin, told the National Press Club in Canberra during a speech setting out the priorities for Labor in the year ahead.
“It should be clear to all which are the days of governing, and which are the days of campaigning,” the nation’s first female prime minister said.
Gillard said announcing the date of the polls would give individuals, businesses and investors the ability to plan ahead. “It gives shape and order to the year, and enables it to be one not of fevered campaigning, but of cool and reasoned deliberation,” she said.
Parliament will be dissolved on August 12.
DND
