Australia’s Turnbull gives his clearest indication yet of July 2 election

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has all but confirmed his intention to call a general election for July 2. Mr Turnbull has yet to set the date but said today he would speak to Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove after the budget on May 3. Rises on tobacco tax, closing tax loopholes for wealthy pensioners and limiting corporate tax havens are among the cash-raising measures the conservative leader has left open to possibility, according to local media reports. "This is his chance to say ‘I do have policies and we do have a plan’,“ said Annette Beacher, Chief Asia-Pacific Macro Strategist at TD Securities. "He’s been losing ground in the polls because everyone thinks he doesn’t have a plan, so this is big for Turnbull.”

When we win the election, as I believe we will, we will return and the reforms to registered organisations and the reintroduction Australian Building and Construction Commission will be made law.

Malcolm Turnbull

Mr Turnbull’s clearest election indication yet came after the Senate rebuffed the reformation of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), which handed him the trigger for a double dissolution election. Mr Turnbull said the election was about “giving the people their say” after the bill failed to pass parliament for a second time. But Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the Prime Minister had hesitated in naming an election date and said voters needed more than “weasel words”.

Turnbull election