The World : Australian Calls Early Vote

Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke, saying he needs a mandate to complete his economic reforms, called an early election in which he will seek a third consecutive term. The Labor Party leader, ending weeks of speculation, said the nation will go to the polls July 11--nine months before an election was due. “The great need now is for certainty and continuity,” he said. The 148-seat House of Representatives and the 76-seat Senate will be dissolved June 5. Hawke was first elected in March, 1983, and returned to office in December, 1984, in an election that was called 15 months early.