Australian PM calls general election for May 3

CANBERRA, Mar 28 (AFP): Australia will hold a general election on May 3, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Friday, locking in a showdown over climate action, nuclear power and a runaway housing market.

Albanese's centre-left Labor party took office in May 2022, turfing out a conservative government deeply unpopular after almost a decade in charge.

But initial enthusiasm for Albanese, 62, has evaporated in recent months as the government nears the end of its three-year term.

Polls show him neck-and-neck with right-leaning Peter Dutton, 54, a hard-nosed former detective who wants to cut back on immigration and reverse a ban on nuclear power.