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Summary
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that a general election will be held on August 21 and has called on Governor-General Quentin Bryce to dissolve Parliament.Gillard, 48, said she would ask the Australian people to endorse her leadership after she ruthlessly deposed former prime minister Kevin Rudd in a party coup.Australia's first woman prime minister and former industrial lawyer laid out her case for re-election on the issues of asylum seekers, economic management and climate change, painting herself as a progressive optimist.
