Prime Minister John Howard on Sunday called general elections for Nov. 24 that will decide who will shepherd Australia's economic boom and whether the country will start pulling out of Iraq. Howard, who has been prime minister for the last 11 years, faces a tough battle to win a fifth term against Labor Party opposition leader Kevin Rudd, a Chinese-speaking former diplomat who for months has held a commanding lead over the conservative Howard in opinion polls. Howard's announcement marks the start of the official run-up to the elections, though both sides have been campaigning unofficially for weeks.
In a news conference announcing the elections, Howard sought to place the guardianship of an economic boom spanning more than 15 years as the key issue. The country's coal and mineral-driven economy continues to boom thanks to voracious demand from China, India and elsewhere. "People must decide in the weeks ahead who is better able to not only to preserve the prosperity that we now have, but also to build it further and to make sure that it is fairly shared throughout the Australian community," Howard said. "Love me or loathe me, the Australian people know where I stand on all the major issues of importance to their future."