CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard was set on Sunday to announce the date of an early election, kicking off a long-awaited campaign which would be dominated by economic and race issues. Howard visited Governor-General Sir William Deane early Sunday morning and was believed to have asked Deane to dissolve parliament and call an election for early October. Under the constitution Howard must ask the British monarch‘s representative in Australia, the governor-general, to dissolve parliament and approve an election date. Howard was to hold a news conference at 11.30 a.m. (0130 GMT). Government officials would not comment on any election date, but October 3 is the most likely date for an election. There is also speculation about October 10 as a possible date Howard has bounced back in the opinion polls since unveiling A$13 billion (US$7.3 billion) in tax breaks, but he still trails the Labor oppposition and faces a tough challenge for the conservative and rural vote from anti-immigration MP Pauline Hanson. Labor leader Kim Beazley, who must win an extra 26 seats to regain government, said he was the underdog but was confident in Labor‘s tax plan which offers voters A$6.0 billion in tax cuts.Howard‘s conservative Liberal-National coalition was buoyed by a fresh newspaper poll on Sunday showing the government well ahead of Labor in key marginal seats. The Sun Herald newspaper poll of four seats in Australia‘s most populous state New South Wales put the government‘s support at 45 percent, compared to Labor‘s 35. But Labor also received an election-eve boost, ousting the conservative government in Saturday‘s Tasmanian state election. However, both main political parties face the prospect of Hanson‘s One Nation party gaining the balance of power in the all important upper house of parliament. Such an outcome would give One Nation, with its anti-Aborigine, anti-Asian and protectionist policies, considerable influence over the next government. Howard‘s term does not expire until mid-1999, but government backbenchers say he wants to go to the polls before the full impact of the Asian financial meltdown hits Australia.