If Opposition leader Tony Abbott takes us the challenge by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to hold three debates between the two contenders to be the 29th prime minister of Australia, he would likely not hear the M word - that is misogyny.

The word used against him by former nemesis Julia Gillard, Mr Rudd's successor and then predecessor, would not likely crop up as the gender issue would not be factor as they tackle debt, asylum seekers and the carbon tax.

Mr Rudd specifically picked those three topics in the run-up to the federal election, although he has not pinpointed a specific date yet that is different from the Sept 14 set by Ms Gillard before she lost in the Labor leadership spill on Thursday, June 27.

"Mr Abbott, I think it's time you demonstrated to the country that you had a bit of ticker on this. I mean, he's the boxing Blue, I'm the glass-wearing kid in the library," ABC quoted the PM.

"Let's have the Australian people form a view about whether his policies actually have substance, whether they actually work or whether they're just slogans," he added.

Mr Abbott has been accused in the past of having no policy on his agenda, except to oppose whatever the Gillard government is working at.

Mr Rudd said the proposed debate would be moderated by the National Press Club. He predicted that Mr Abbott's whole programme of government - or lack of it - would fall down like a house of cards during the debates.

Mr Abbott, however, said before he agrees to a formal debate, the PM should first provide a specific election date.

Mr Rudd also acknowledged that during his first term as PM, he may have made a mistake on the boat people because the government was not fast enough to respond to the new change in external circumstances. He said Australian governments always introduce changes to asylum seeker policies as its response to global events such as the wars in Sri Lanka and Afghanistan that resulted in a jump in boat arrivals during his first term to 61 boats in 2009 from only 7 in 2008.

"There is nothing set in stone with immigration policy of asylum seeker policy ... I'm open to adjustments in the future," he said.

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