Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Sunday the nation would go to the polls on July 2 as he seeks his own mandate with the public just eight months after deposing predecessor Tony Abbott in a party coup.
The widely expected announcement was the latest chapter in the turbulent world of Australian politics, where a revolving door of leaders saw multi-millionaire former banker Turnbull, 61, become the fourth prime minister in just over two years when he ousted Abbott in September.
“The governor-general has accepted my advice to dissolve both houses of parliament effective on Monday morning, and call an election for both houses, a double dissolution, on 2 July,” Turnbull said at a press conference in Canberra.