Australian prime minister calls general elections for November

CANBERRA, Australia – Prime Minister John Howard today 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.

Australia’s deployment of 550 combat troops in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq is an important background issue because it is an area of clear difference and affects Australia’s most important foreign relationship – with the United States.

Howard, a staunch ally of President Bush, sent 2,000 troops to support U.S. and British forces in the 2003 Iraq invasion and says the 1,600 Australian forces still involved in the operation will stay as long as they are needed.

Rudd argues that the Iraq war has made Australia more vulnerable to terrorist attack and has promised to withdraw Australia’s 550 combat troops, in consultation with Washington, leaving the rest there in lesser roles.