CANBERRA -- Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard surprised the nation on Wednesday with her sudden announcement of September 14 as the date for the federal election and analysts here say that this is part of her political game-plan.

According to Sky News, it is unprecedented to announce the election date so early, leaving major parties with almost eight months to prepare for the polls.

Gillard, leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), said she wanted to avoid constant speculation of the likely date of the polls during an election year.

She said she wants certainty and stability for Australian businesses and politics.

"I do so not to start the nation's longest election campaign but quite the opposite. It should be clear to all which are the days of governing and which are the days of campaigning," Gillard said.

"It gives shape and order to the year, and enables it to be one not of fevered campaigning, but of cool and reasoned deliberation, " she added.

Some local TV commentators said that with her announcement, Gillard showed that she is tough and in control and cannot to be pushed by anybody.

Since last weekend, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has started a so-called mini-campaign. And she also wanted to cement the hope of previous Labor leader Kevin Rudd for challenging Gillard's leadership within the party again.

But some described her move as a gamble. Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University, Benjamin Reilly, said, "We'll see if it works. To call one so far in advance is very unusual for Australia. I'm not aware of any comparative case at the federal level."

As the prime minister said, she wanted the early announcement to prevent the major parties from engaging in too much politicking as what happened in 2012 and for the parties to be able to present their platforms of government and their campaign budget.

However, her wish may not be achieved.

"I wouldn't expect to see costings or very concrete policies any time soon," Reilly told Australian Associated Press.

Reilly said that Opposition leader Abbott has been saying that any information about his campaign plan and resources would not be released until well into the election campaign. "I expect we'll find it's kind of business as usual," he said.

Manager of Opposition Business Christopher Pyne said he believed Gillard had taken the unusual step to grab tomorrow's headlines, stop a leadership challenge and avoid the September 30 release of the final budget outcome for 2012/13.

However, Treasury and Finance will issue a pre-election budget update early in the official campaign period that will contain much of the same information as the final budget outcome.

"I think the government is expected to have a much better year over summer and come out ahead in the polls," Pyne told ABC television.

The Australian Financial Review quoted senior political scientists as saying that the reasons for Gillard's announcement could include a desire to smoke out opposition policies, to take advantage of the benefits of incumbency of office while simultaneously campaigning, to focus attention on Abbott, and to stifle ALP leadership speculation.

The newspaper argued that by doing so Gillard has actually gambled away one of the biggest political advantages an Australian political leader has, that is the ability to keep the opposition guessing about election timing.

Australian Catholic University professor of public policy, Scott Prasser, said he believed the government was trying to provoke greater scrutiny of the opposition.

"They will try to make Tony Abbott look like Mr.Negative. The government is trying to be the one probing the opposition; normally, the opposition sets the battlefield and the government reacts," Prasser said.

"The danger for the opposition is that they panic and try and rush out their policies," Prasser added.