Australian election rivals Rudd and Abbott hold first debate

Australia's Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and opposition leader Tony Abbott are due to meet in the first televised debate of the election campaign.

The candidates will face an hour of questioning from a panel of journalists in the capital, Canberra.

Correspondents say the economy and the issue of asylum seekers are likely to dominate the debate.

Current opinion polls put Mr Abbott and his Liberal-National coalition in the lead for the 7 September election.

However, Mr Rudd's Labor Party has significantly narrowed its lead since he ousted his predecessor, Julia Gillard, in June.

He told reporters that Mr Abbott's poll lead meant the pressure would be on the opposition leader in the debate to justify his budget plans.

Continue reading the main story

AnalysisJon DonnisonBBC News, Sydney

As with all such debates both men will be trying to avoid a gaffe or slip up that could torpedo a campaign. Ahead in the polls but seen by commentators as a less accomplished debater, the conservative opposition leader Tony Abbot has perhaps more to lose.

Much will depend on the media spin that the two men's advisors manage to whip up afterwards.

It is just two months since Kevin Rudd emerged as prime minister for the second time after ousting his Labor colleague and rival, Julia Gillard.

Now he's in charge the race is much closer. but Mr Rudd is still portraying himself as the underdog.

• Read more from Jon

"Based on today's polls if there was an election yesterday Mr Abbott would be prime minister today and therefore he can't be evasive tonight about where his $70bn ($65bn: £42bn) in cuts in health, education and jobs will fall," said.

Mr Abbott said it would be clear to Australians well before polling day "exactly what we are spending and exactly what we are saving", AFP reports.

Sunday's debate, which begins at 18:30 local time (08:30 GMT), is the first of three such possible meetings before polling day.

The BBC's Jon Donnison in Sydney says Australian politics are often combative and plain-speaking, so it is likely to be a feisty exchange.

Australia's economy, having largely avoided the global financial crisis, is beginning to struggle, says our correspondent, so will feature heavily.

Labor last week announced an A$200m package to assist the car industry.

Mr Abbott, meanwhile, pledged to repeal Australia's carbon tax at his first campaign event in Brisbane.

Both candidates have also already been campaigning on the heated topic of immigration, and how to stop illegal migrants reaching Australian shores.

Labor has been hit by the loss of two candidates in the past week. Mr Rudd demanded that Geoff Lake, candidate for the safe seat of Hotham in Victoria, withdraw after it emerged he had abused a woman with a disability during a council meeting a decade ago.

Meanwhile the Labor candidate for the Queensland seat of Kennedy, Ken Robertson, stood down from the race after calling Mr Abbott a racist and "very bigoted" in an interview.

He said he was withdrawing "in the interests of ensuring that this matter does not distract from Labor's campaign for a fairer Australia".