Australian PM expected to reveal election date

SYDNEY, New South Wales - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was Sunday expected to name a date for the upcoming election after visiting Governor General Quentin Bryce in Canberra.

Rudd, who has been under pressure to call an election since wresting the Labor leadership from Julia Gillard in late June, arrived at Bryce's Canberra residence just after 3:00 pm (0500 GMT).

Traditionally, the prime minister asks the Governor General, British Queen Elizabeth II's representative in Australia, to dissolve parliament to clear the way for an election.

Rudd brought Labor to power in 2007 in a landslide victory but he was ousted in mid-2010 by his own party, which installed the nation's first woman prime minister Julia Gillard in his place.

He was reinstalled five weeks ago to save the party, which formed a minority government after 2010 polls, from a disastrous election defeat.

Rudd will face conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott, a former minister under prime minister John Howard, in the polls which must be held by late November.