Prime Minister Scott Morrison's conservative Liberals had closed a yawning gap on the opposition upstarts, but differences over climate may prove the difference. Final polls show the vote is going down to the wire, with Labor ahead roughly 51-49. If Shorten is elected, he would become the sixth prime minister sworn into office in a decade. Still, his relative lack of charisma was underlined Thursday by the death of much-loved former prime minister Bob Hawke, an Oxford-educated lovable rogue, equally at home chugging a pint or debating Keynesian economics. Polls opened at 8:00 am local (2200 GMT) and the first exit polls are expected around 10 hours later.

Source: Bangkok Post May 17, 2019 22:30 UTC