Albanese's Labor party won a majority at the last federal election in 2022, but most recent opinion polls show the party neck-and-neck with the opposition Liberal-National coalition when votes from smaller parties are redistributed.

The normal operations of Parliament will now end, and writs are being issued - which is a fancy way of saying the Governor General is telling the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to get cracking. Deputy Electoral Commissioner with the AEC, Kath Gleeson says that starts with finalising the list of who can vote.

Prime Minister Albanese’s Labor Party has introduced new tax cuts in advance of general election due before May 17.