Rudd heads west, Abbott south OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott is southbound to sell coalition policy to Tasmanian voters while Prime Minister Kevin Rudd heads west for a busy day on the election trail. The prime minister will jet to Darwin first thing on Thursday before heading to Kununurra across the border in Western Australia. Mr Abbott will start at Launceston where he has already pledged to spend money boosting jobs and is expected to reveal more plans to bolster the island state's ailing economy. Thursday is also the final call for candidate nominations, which close at at noon ahead of Friday's ballot paper draws.