Australia election set for neck-and-neck finish

By Michael Perry

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Support for Australia's government has fallen sharply, polls show, making the August 21 election likely to be decided by marginal seats where voters are focussed on the divisive issues of mining tax, climate and immigration.

The ruling Labor party is now level with the conservative opposition with only three weeks left of the campaign, a Newspoll survey in the Australian newspaper showed on Monday.

"I wake up some days and go, let's fire up, let's get more determined and that's what I've done today," Prime Minister Julia Gillard told Sydney radio after waking to a headline "Poll at 50:50."

Even more alarming for Gillard, who only took office in June, a Nielsen poll on Saturday showed support for her party had dived six percentage points to 48 percent, and the opposition, led by Tony Abbott, with an election-winning 52 percent.

Gillard, who has seen Labor's support plunge after it held a commanding seven point lead last month, pledged to do away with a stage-managed and risk averse re-election campaign and talk directly to voters about issues such as jobs, schools, hospitals and the economy.

"I'm desperate to make sure that Australians in this election campaign get to hear from me," she said.

Defeat for Labor would sink a planned 30 percent tax on iron ore and coal mining, moves to introduce carbon-trading to fight climate change and a planned $33 billion (20 billion pounds)-plus broadband network.

A victory by the conservative opposition would also see tougher border security, with the reopening of South Pacific island detention camps for asylum seekers arriving by boat.