Working-class voters remain the target of Anthony Albanese’s polling-day pitch for Labor power.
If the polls are correct, the opposition leader – who has spent three years waiting in the wings – could be hours away from becoming the next prime minister.
Running on a small-target strategy, he argues the nation is ready for change after almost 10 years of coalition government.
“Give Labor a crack. We have plans for this country. We have plans to embrace the opportunities that are there,” the Labor leader said.
Mr Albanese says voters should back his team because they have a “plan for a better future”.
“They should vote today for cheaper childcare, they should vote for action on climate change, they should vote to make more things here, they should vote for more secure work and dealing with the cost-of-living challenges,” he told ABC TV on Saturday from Melbourne.
He will make his way to Sydney, where he will cast his ballot in his inner-west electorate of Grayndler.
Labor hopes to pick up seven seats to form a majority government, with the party setting its sights on electorates such as Pearce and Hasluck in WA, Boothby and Sturt in SA and Reid, Bennelong and Robertson in NSW.
The latest Newspoll shows Labor ahead 53 to 47 two-party preferred.
It suggests the opposition has a narrow lead on the primary vote despite dropping two points from 38 to 36 per cent.
If successful, Mr Albanese will become just the fourth Labor leader to take the party to government from opposition since World War II.
