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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Gillard sets Australia poll date of 14 September | Gillard sets Australia poll date of 14 September |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has called a general election for 14 September. | Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has called a general election for 14 September. |
| Ms Gillard said that she would ask Governor-General Quentin Bryce to order parliament be dissolved on 12 August. | Ms Gillard said that she would ask Governor-General Quentin Bryce to order parliament be dissolved on 12 August. |
| She said the announcement - eight months in advance - was "not to start the nation's longest election campaign" but to give "shape and order" to the year. | She said the announcement - eight months in advance - was "not to start the nation's longest election campaign" but to give "shape and order" to the year. |
| Ms Gillard leads a minority government that relies on independents. | Ms Gillard leads a minority government that relies on independents. |
| She said the rare long run-up to the election would allow individuals, businesses and investors to plan ahead. | She said the rare long run-up to the election would allow individuals, businesses and investors 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. | "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. |
| "I can create an environment in which the nation's eyes are more easily focused on the policies, not the petty politics. I can act so Australia's parliament and government serves their full three-year-term." | "I can create an environment in which the nation's eyes are more easily focused on the policies, not the petty politics. I can act so Australia's parliament and government serves their full three-year-term." |
| The deadline for the election to be held was 30 November. | |
| Most expected the poll to come at the backend of the year, reports the BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney, but normally Australian prime ministers make full use of one of the advantages of incumbency: their prerogative to pick the election day but not reveal it until much closer to the time. | |
| The previous election, held in August 2010, left both parties short of a parliamentary majority. | |
| Ms Gillard, who leads the Labor Party, formed a coalition government with the support of the Greens and independent legislators. | Ms Gillard, who leads the Labor Party, formed a coalition government with the support of the Greens and independent legislators. |
| Opinion polls suggest that the opposition, led by Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott, would oust Labor if the elections were held now. |