Scott Morrison has called an election for May 21 after he visited Government House in Canberra on Sunday morning.
The Prime Minister’s decision means Australians will head to the polls at the latest possible date to decide who forms the next federal government.
Mr Morrison held a brief press conference shortly after his office confirmed the May 21 poll, in which he continued his attempted framing of the election as a choice between his government and Labor as the “unknown”.
“This election and this campaign are incredibly important because there is so much at stake for Australia and our future,” he said at Parliament House.
“This election is about you. No one else. It’s about our country and it’s future.”
He also committed to serving out a full three-year term as Prime Minister should he pull off a win.
Asked about a potential cabinet reshuffle, Mr Morrison said his “proven team” of ministers would hold on to their portfolios.
Mr Morrison had flown from Sydney earlier on Sunday to advise the Governor-General of his plans, officially starting the six-week campaign before Australians head to the polls.
He arrived at Sir David Hurley’s official residence in Yarralumla about 10.20am, where a small crowd of so-called “freedom” protesters had gathered outside the gates.
Amid a flurry of media excitement, news broadcasters forged ahead with live, blow-by-blow coverage of Mr Morrison’s government BMW limousine making its way along Dunrossil Drive to and from Government House.
TV crews were stationed at Canberra and Sydney airports on with cameras pointed at the tarmac to capture Mr Morrison boarding and disembarking the RAAF jet that took him to the capital.
Mr Morrison was widely expected to make the election call on Sunday after clearing a number of legal hurdles to install his hand-picked Liberal candidates in some NSW seats.
The government will be hoping a six-week campaign before a May 21 poll will allow time for the dust to settle following the legal brawl over the preselections.
Mr Morrison will also be hoping to regain ground after a horror week in which he faced several bullying allegations from Liberal colleagues.
He has emphatically denied the claims, but the election is shaping up as a contest of character between Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese.
Deputy opposition leader Richard Marles responded to the Liberal infighting in an interview on the AxjmtzywBC shortly before Mr Morrison’s arrival in Canberra on Sunday.
“The Liberal Party right now is a bin fire. If you can’t govern your own party, then what chance do you have of governing the country?” Mr Marles said.
“The reason it is a bin fire and the reason the Liberals are in this position at the moment is the Prime Minister lies. Every time he stands up, he lies.”
Labor leader Anthony Albanese, who was at the Sydney Royal Easter Show on Sunday morning, had encouraged Mr Morrison to “just get on with” calling an election, accusing him of stalling an election announcement so ministers could continue making plum appointments to government bodies.
The two leaders released prerecorded advertisements on Saturday as they sharpened their last-minute pitches to voters before the official election campaign begins in earnest.
Mr Morrison in his video sought to drive home his message that the Coalition are the better choice for economic management and national security, telling viewers he acknowledged “things are tough”.
He released an “opinion piece” entitled “The Choice” on Sunday morning, in which he said his government hadn’t been perfect but now was not the time to “risk” Labor.
Labor’s campaign video introduces Mr Albanese, who refers to his upbringing, his Sydney University economics degree and the time he spent as infrastructure minister in the former Rudd and Gillard governments.
Mr Albanese promised to get government debt and spending under control and to work with business to increase Australian manufacturing. He said he had a fully costed plan to make childcare and power bills cheaper and to strengthen Medicare.
Where do both major parties stand?
Mr Morrison will be hoping he can repeat his “miracle” 2019 election victory and become the first person in more than 14 years to have served a full term as prime minister.
As in 2019, the Coalition starts the campaign behind in the opinion polls but Labor will be hoping Mr Albanese will fare better with the electorate than former leader Bill Shorten did.
Support for Labor dropped slightly in the latest Newspoll, though it maintained its lead over the Coalition 54-46 on a two party preferred basis.
If latest poll was replicated on election day, Labor would pick up as many as 17 seats. But a drop in the opposition’s primary vote by three points to 38 — only slightly ahead of the government’s 36 — will be a cause for concern for Labor as it heads into the campaign proper.
Mr Morrison remains in front in the polls as preferred Prime Minister as Mr Albanese continues to struggle to define himself in the minds of voters.
Punters are likely to be sceptical of pollsters considering nearly every survey conducted before the 2019 election over-estimated support for Labor.
Where the election will be won
Half of the Senate will face re-election along with all 151 MPs in the House of Representatives, where the magic number either side needs to form a majority government is 76.
The Coalition is heading into the election with 76 seats, down one from the 2019 election after the abolishment of the West Australian seat of Stirling.
After the creation of a notionally safe Labor seat of Hawke in Melbourne’s west, Labor starts with 69 seats.
The opposition will require a uniform 3.3 swing to gain the seven seats it needs to govern in its own right. But statistically the Coalition is better placed than it was in 2019.
Labor has 12 MPs with slim margins who will be fighting for their political lives, compared to the Coalition’s three.
But it’s unknown how big a factor the independents who are challenging traditional Liberal held seats like Wentworth and Goldstein will be.
If the crossbench increases in size from its eight MPs, Australia could be heading for a minority government and then, as in 2010, it’s anyone’s game.
Labor faces a fight to secure the seats it needs and there is speculation the election could result in a hung parliament — where neither side wins an absolute majority and the party that forms a minority government needs the support of the Greens or independent MPs to pass legislation.
What happens next?
While both Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese have been in campaign mode since before Christmas, the formal election trigger will mean Australians can expect to see more corflutes in front yards, billboards and pitches to voters.
If you have moved in the past three years or are unsure if you are enrolled to vote you should check your details with the Australian Electoral Commision, as voting is compulsory.
According to the AEC the deadline for enrolment is at 8pm seven days from the issuing of the writs.
