24. New Australian PM?

Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Sunday called for a general election on November 24.

After 11 years in office, he says experience sets him ahead of opposition leader Kevin Rudd.

He is making a bid for the fifth term in office.

The 68-year-old leader of the Liberal Party is trailing badly in opinion polls in a battle against Labor Party leader and former diplomat Rudd, the toughest opponent to emerge since Howard won power in 1996.

With voters concerned over house prices and rising interest rates putting pressure on mortgages, Howard stressed his ability to manage the economic boom and said he believed record unemployment could go even lower.

The announcement came as a new survey confirmed earlier opinion polls showing that the prime minister is facing electoral defeat.

Newspoll shows Howard facing defeat at the ballot box with 44 per cent and Labor leading with 56 per cent of the vote.

Read all about it here in an AFP report.