Australian general election to take place on May 21

Canberra, April 10 (IANS) Australians will head to the polls on May 21 to vote in the country's general election, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, Morrison visited the Governor-General to dissolve Parliament and call the election for all 151 seats in the House of Representatives and about half of 76 Senate seats, reports Xinhua news agency.

The governing Liberal-National Coalition has held power since 2013.

If it retains power, Morrison will become the first Prime Minister to win consecutive general elections since 2004.

Newspoll has indicated the opposition Labor Party and its leader Anthony Albanese leads in net satisfaction, with the party more preferred.

Launching his re-election campaign on Sunday, Morrison said that the Coalition could be trusted to lead Australia's economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

"This election and this campaign is incredibly important. That's because there is so much at stake for Australia and our future," he said.

The election campaign, which will last about six weeks, is expected to be dominated by issues surrounding the pandemic, climate change, cost of living, and housing affordability.

In a video posted on social media on Saturday night, Albanese promised that Labor would "get spending under control so we can keep taxes low" if victorious.

"Debt has skyrocketed under the Liberals. They'd doubled the debt even before the pandemic," he said.

"Australians deserve a prime minister who shows up, who takes responsibility and who works with people."