Gillard likely to meet Oz Governor General to set election date

MELBOURNE - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is likely to visit Governor General Quentin Bryce tomorrow to set an August 28 election date.

Gillard visited Werribee a early today for a meet-and-greet with locals along the suburb’s main street.

According to The Age, although she declined to comment about the poll date, it is likely that she would set August 28 as the election date, triggering a six-week campaign that has unofficially been under way since she deposed Kevin Rudd as prime minister on June 24.

Gillard landed in Melbourne today after a whirlwind visit to Tasmania this morning.

She is tonight expected to spend what may be her last night in her Altona home before campaigning proper gets under way, the paper states.

Meanwhile, Gillard has said that she would be sticking to her promise to give the country’s former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd a senior ministry in a re-elected Labor government.

It has been revealed that the Prime Minister reneged on an apparent deal with Mr Rudd that would have allowed him to stand down before an October election.

“I have said that Kevin Rudd will serve as a senior minister in a re-elected Gillard government, that is my commitment, I will honour that commitment,” Gillard said.

However, the opposition predicts there will be “massive” instability within a Labor government that includes Rudd on the frontbench.

“We are going to be in for three years of massive instability, we’ve only seen the start of it now.”" opposition finance spokesman Joe Hockey said. (ANI)