American Marconi Wireless News - Australian PM to call May 3 general election: reports

Albanese's left-leaning Labor government is nearing the end of its three-year term and must hold an election by May 17 at the latest.

Recent polls show the government is neck-and-neck with its conservative rivals, who were turfed out in 2022 after almost a decade in power.

As speculation mounted on Thursday, Albanese said he was preparing to call the election "soon".

"It will be called pretty imminently," he told a local radio station.

Multiple media outlets -- including national broadcaster ABC -- reported Albanese would announce the official start of campaigning on Friday, setting an election date of May 3.

The 62-year-old's government released its annual budget earlier this week, courting votes with surprise tax cuts and a raft of other sweeteners.

Conservative leader Peter Dutton, 54, has pilloried Albanese, accusing him of "weak" leadership and stoking inflation through government largesse.

Dutton's signature policy is a US$200 billion scheme to construct seven industrial-scale nuclear reactors, putting the brakes on the growth of renewable energy.

Polling shows economic concerns and the high cost of housing will dominate the contest.

Although inflation has eased under Albanese -- from 7.8 percent in 2022 to 2.4 percent in December -- many households are still struggling with high food, fuel, and power prices.

Major cities Sydney and Melbourne now rank among the 10 least-affordable housing markets in the world, according to the annual Demographia affordability index.

T.Ward--AMWN