SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison plans to call an election on Thursday, with a likely polling date of May 18, the Australian Broadcasting Corp, Sky News and other media reported, without citing sources.
Morrison arranged to fly from Melbourne to the national capital Canberra late on Wednesday so that he could ask the governor-general the following morning to dissolve parliament for an election campaign, media reported.
Australia needs to go to the polls by late May to elect a new parliament as the current three-year term ends.
Most polls suggest Morrison's conservative coalition government will lose office.
A spokesman for Morrison was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Kevin Liffey)