abbott runs up white flag

ABC Online...
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will take to the stage at the National Press Club alone today after Opposition Leader Tony Abbott maintained he will not debate him unless the election is called or Parliament resumes.

Mr Rudd has challenged Mr Abbott to a series of debates and wanted the first to be today.

However Mr Abbott is remaining steadfast in his opposition to pre-election campaign debates and will be in Melbourne, not Canberra.

So, appearing solo, Mr Rudd will give a speech promoting Labor's economic record and outline what he sees as the economic challenges of the future.

He will also accuse Mr Abbott of being "formidable in the art of negative politics."

Mr Rudd will say, "Australia is seen around the world as one of the strongest economies" and that the challenges the nation faces "are entirely manageable".

But he will also acknowledge the "rapid and recent decline" in the terms of trade, arguing it warrants serious debate rather than negative politics.

Mr Rudd will say "a 100 per cent diet of negative politics is a lazy substitute for the hard work that is needed to develop, argue and implement policies".

He will also argue that "the easiest thing to do in our national political life is to craft a negative sound bite rather than answering the core question of what would you would actually do differently."

A spokesman for Mr Abbott says the challenge for Mr Rudd at the Press Club will be to deliver "something real not just his usual routine of being all talk and no action."

The Prime Minister has also challenged Mr Abbott to debates on immigration policy and carbon pricing.

Dave R.