Australian PM Rudd heads for election

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd vowed on Friday to fight to the end despite polls showing him heading for an election wipeout as rival Tony Abbott looked forward to getting straight to work.

A Galaxy survey in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, a day before voters cast their ballots, found Rudd had failed to make any inroads on the conservative opposition leader.

On a two-party basis, the ruling Labor party was trailing 47 to 53 per cent, with the newspaper saying Abbot’s Liberal/National coalition could pick up as many as 20 to 25 extra seats in the lower House of Representatives.

This would give them more than 90 seats in the 150-seat parliament. An overwhelming 78 percent of the 1,503 people questioned said Abbott had performed better during the election campaign. Just eight percent said Rudd, with the rest undecided.

But the prime minister, who has struggled for traction after toppling Julia Gillard, Australia’s first female leader, just weeks before calling the election, said he was not ready to give up.

‘I believe I can win the election,’ Rudd said Friday evening.

The economy has been a key election battleground and the opposition on Thursday pledged Aus $40 billion ($37 billion) of savings if it wins.