| Good morning Tylko, Welcome to our federal election newsletter.
Anthony Albanese and
Peter Dutton have entered the final two-day push to convince millions of undecided voters they deserve their vote. With about 12 million Australians still to vote as of Thursday morning, the clock is ticking in the battle to win the hearts and minds of voters in key battleground seats.
Keep a close eye on where Albanese and Dutton travel over the next 48 hours. Albanese’s return to Perth on Thursday has raised eyebrows that Labor’s WA stronghold may have a few cracks, particularly in the seat of Tangney.
On Saturday night, there will not be uniform voting trends in states and territories, or across inner-city, outer-suburban and regional electorates. Labor MPs, including prominent cabinet ministers, are expecting to cop big swings.
The challenge for the Coalition is catching enough of the swinging vote to fall over the line in marginal and battleground seats. Dutton also needs to hold incumbent seats being targeted by cashed-up Labor and Teal challenges.
For Albanese to achieve his dream of claiming a majority government result and becoming the first prime minister since John Howard in 1998 to win back-to-back elections, Labor MPs will need to cling on to as much of the anti-Scott Morrison vote they scooped up in 2022.
Preference flows from Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, Adam Bandt’s Greens, the Climate 200-backed Teals, Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots and Jacqui Lambie’s party will determine results in key seats.
The Greens, whose preferences are expected to deliver at least a minority victory for Albanese’s Labor according to the polls, could lose three out of the four lowerhouse seats it won in 2022. After winning a rump of inner-city Liberal seats in 2022, the Teals are facing a tough fight to hold Goldstein, Curtin and Kooyong.
After enduring almost five weeks of campaigning and skirmishes over lying, big-spending policies and scare campaigns, many Australians are only now turning their minds to who they will vote for.
Expect a frenetic final blitz by Albanese and Dutton as they hit as many electorates as they can before the polls close on Saturday night. | 
