From dusty desert towns to sun-splashed harbour cities, voters are choosing between left-leaning incumbent Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and conservative challenger Peter Dutton.
“The holy grail is back-to-back wins that we’re aiming for today,“ Albanese told Channel Seven.
Though trailing by a few percentage points in the polls, Dutton said “quiet Australians” could yet deliver a surprise.
Asked if he would remain opposition leader if he loses, Dutton said he was only talking about winning, but added: “I am 54. I am still very young, and I’ve just got a burning passion for this country.”
The first polls opened at 8:00 am (2200 GMT) on Australia's east coast, followed later by the country's western cities and far-flung island territories.
Voting is compulsory, enforced with fines of Aus$20 (US$13), leading to turnouts that top 90 percent.
Albanese, 62, has promised to embrace renewable energy, tackle a worsening housing crisis, and pour money into a creaking healthcare system.
Some polls showed Dutton leaking support because of Trump, who he praised this year as a “big thinker” with “gravitas” on the global stage.
“And we’ve got to tiptoe around that.”
As Australians soured on Trump, both Dutton and Albanese took on a more pugnacious tone.
Albanese condemned Trump’s tariffs as an act of “economic self-harm” and “not the act of a friend”.
“The cost of living -- it’s extremely high at the moment. So, taxes as well, is also another really big thing. Petrol prices, all the basic stuff,“ human resources manager Robyn Knox told AFP in Brisbane.
“Our grocery shops are definitely way more expensive than they were a couple years ago,“ he said.
Coal-mining superpower Australia will choose between two leaders with sharply contrasting ideas on climate change and emissions reduction.
Dutton's signature policy is a US$200 billion scheme to construct seven industrial-scale nuclear reactors, doing away with the need to ramp up renewables.
Albanese tumbled backwards off the stage at a heaving campaign rally, while Dutton drew blood when he hit an unsuspecting cameraman in the head with a stray football.
Polls have suggested 10 or more unaligned crossbenchers could hold the balance of power -- making a rare minority government a distinct possibility.
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