The polls are showing Labor is likely to be returned for a second term.

But both leaders have invoked the 2019 election result when then prime minister Scott Morrison scored a shock victory over Bill Shorten despite polls showing Labor was in the box seat.

“Well, we’ll wait and see, but I certainly take nothing for granted,” the Prime Minister told ABC AM.

“I think 2019 shows the folly of pretending that you know the outcome of an election before the ballots are counted.”

The Opposition Leader says he remains confident he can lead the Coalition to a win.

“I think we’re in for the fight of our lives, because if you look at the seat by seat analysis, there’s no doubt in my mind that we can win this election,” he told ABC AM.

“I think we’re seeing a 2019 situation where you’ve got a lot of interesting contests playing on the ground, where we’ve had significant efforts by great candidates.

“I think there will be some big surprises on election night.”

Mr Albanese is aiming to become the first prime minister since John Howard to win back-to-back elections, while Mr Dutton wants to make history of his own by defeating a first-term government.

Going into Saturday’s election, Labor holds a notional 78 seats in Australia’s 150-seat Parliament and the Coalition a notional 57 seats.

Frenetic day of campaign begins before dawn

Both leaders have been up before dawn to win over voters on the final day of campaigning.

The Opposition Leader is starting the day in Adelaide, where he held an upbeat supporters rally with the Liberal candidates for the key seats of Sturt and Boothby overnight.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister – who was also in Adelaide on Thursday – is in Brisbane again, where Labor is desperate to improve on the five of the 30 Queensland sets it currently holds.

He will then head to Tasmania and Melbourne and vowed to keep campaigning till “6pm tomorrow night”.

More than five million Australians have already voted, with early polling booths closing at 6pm on Friday.

On Saturday, thousands of polling booths will open at 8pm till 6pm local time before counting starts at 6pm.

Neither leader is giving up, with both mounting a hectic cross-country blitz of key marginal seats.

Polls point to Labor win of some sort

The polls are pointing to Anthony Albanese and Labor emerging the winner from the bruising 35-day election campaign.

Three polls released on Thursday have Labor winning – but the results differ wildly.

The final AFR/Freshwater Strategy poll, released on Thursday night, shows Labor ahead of the Coalition 51.5 per cent to 48.5 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.

Labor’s primary vote sits at 33 per cent, while the Coalition’s is at 37 per cent.

Independents were on track to secure 18 per cent of the vote, while the Greens look set to nab 12 per cent.

The poll shows a 0.6 per cent swing towards Labor from the 2022 election, and if that swing holds across all electorates, the firm estimates Labor could jag a slim majority of 76 seats in the 150 seat parliament.

YouGov’s modelling released earlier on Thursday points to Mr Albanese winning a solid majority, with 84 seats with the Coalition set to lose a net total of 11 seats to end up with just 47.

The latest Redbridge-Accent poll shows the Albanese government has a 53 to 47 per cent two-party-preferred lead over the Coalition, putting Labor in prime position to retain government.

Meanwhile, news.com.au reported bombshell ALP polling has outlined Mr Albanese’s path to victory on 72-78 seats in the 150-seat parliament.

‘Break either way’: Marles

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told the Today show on Friday there were still “a large number” of voters who were still undecided.

“In fact, in every election when you see the stats of the number of people who actually make up their mind in the ballot box itself, really means that, yes, the polls are saying one thing, but it’s not determinative,” Mr Marles said.

“I mean, there’s enough undecided voters out there that this thing can break either way.”

Mr Marles also alluded to the 2019 election when the polls had predicted a strong win for Bill Shorten and Labor, but Scott Morrison ended up leading the Coalition to a “miracle” win.

“We feel happy with the campaign that we’ve run, but we’re very mindful that this is a matter for the Australian people,” Mr Marles said.

“We’ve gone into elections before where you think you’re going to get one result and you get a different one. So I’m not really going to venture a prediction about Saturday night.”

‘Battle of bandaids’: Greens leader

Greens leader Adam Bandt is confident the minor party will play a major part in the next parliament following Saturday’s election, and could win new seats to add to its current four.

“Our goal this election is to not only hold those seats in the House, the Senate, but there’s seats – Macnamara, Wills, Richmond, Sturt, Perth – where we’re in the running,” Mr Bandt told ABC News Breakfast.

“One thing will be crystal clear, the Greens will play a big role in the next Parliament, and we’re the ones pushing for the real lasting reforms.”

Mr Bandt was critical of both Labor’s and the Coalition’s policies put up over the past 35 days of the election campaign.

“We’ve seen the battle of the Band-Aids between Labor and Liberals. It’s been short-termism, a few hundred dollars here that may evaporate in a year,” Mr Bandt said.

“We’re talking about ongoing reform to make the country healthier.

“We would like to see dental into Medicare for everyone, but we need to take action on the housing crisis and the climate and environment crisis well.

“We put forward ideas that we think could get done this year.”
More to come