Expat Aussies set for vote

THOUSANDS of Australians in the UK are set to vote over the coming weeks in their country's general election, which sees two British-born party leaders locked in a knife-edge battle.

The current prime minister, Julia Gillard, whose birthplace is Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, called a snap poll for 21 August just weeks after her unopposed Labor leadership victory.

She is being challenged by Tony Abbott, leader of the centre-right Liberal National coalition, who was born in London.

In the 2007 election, more than 16,000 Australians in the UK voted - either in person or by post - via the country's High Commission, Australia House, in London.