Australia looks set for May 2022 election as budget brought forward

FILE PHOTO: Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks as National Statements are delivered as a part of the World Leaders' Summit at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain November 1, 2021. Ian Forsyth/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's ruling coalition, trailing in the opinion polls, brought forward its annual budget by two months, according to a parliamentary timetable published on Monday, signalling it will call an election at the latest possible time.

Instead of the usual date of the second Tuesday in May, the conservative government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison plans to deliver the budget on March 29, the schedule showed.