Have you registered to vote? Australians have until TONIGHT to make sure they are eligible to cast their ballots
- Voters have until 8pm on Thursday to register to vote in the federal election
- Not voting can lead to $20 fine and failing to explain reason could lead to court
- Prime minister Scott Morrison will campaign in Tasmania before Easter break
- Opposition leader Bill Shorten will focus his attention in the Northern Territory
As Australia’s political leaders campaign at opposite ends of the country, time is running out to enrol to vote in the upcoming federal election.
Australian citizens have until 8pm on Thursday to register or change their details to take part in the May 18 poll.
Failing to vote in the upcoming election could lead to a $20 fine, and failing to provide a reasonable excuse for not voting could land that person in court.
Prime minister Scott Morrison will campaign in Tasmania on Thursday, promising more than $25 million for the state’s health services
Opposition leader Bill Shorten will spend the day in the Northern Territory, rounding out a week of health announcements of his own
As the deadline looms, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten are squeezing in a final day on the hustings before pausing over Easter.
The prime minister will campaign in Tasmania on Thursday, promising more than $25 million for the state’s health services.
Mr Morrison is hoping to snatch a swag of crucial marginal seats in the north of the Apple Isle.
Mr Shorten will spend the day in the Northern Territory, rounding out a week of health announcements of his own.
Mr Shorten has endured a tough couple of days after slipping on Labor’s superannuation policies, and clashing with a cranky reporter over climate change.
The Opposition Leader was on the campaign trail in the marginal Liberal-held electorate of Boothby in Adelaide’s southern suburbs on Tuesday.
10 News First reporter Jonathan Lea became frustrated when Mr Shorten declined to provide detail on how Labor’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent within 11 years would affect the economy.
‘When can voters expect to learn more about Labor’s emission reduction target, how you’re going to get there and the cost to the economy?’ Lea asked.
Lea said Mr Shorten’s reply to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s budget was ‘focused exclusively on health’, a claim Mr Shorten took exception to.
‘First of all I haven’t spoken exclusively about health… I don’t know what private conversations you have with people or what you want to reveal, but let me go to the record,’ Mr Shorten said.
Mr Morrison has also had his fair share of blunders, namely during a visit to Strathfield in Sydney’s inner-west last Saturday.
Australian citizens have until 8pm on Thursday to register or change their details to take part in the May 18 poll
The prime minister greeted a woman in Mandarin but was left red-faced after she told him she was Korean.
He shook hands with a woman and said: ‘Hello, how are you? … Ni hao.’
‘No, no, no, I’m Korean. I’m from the Korean community,’ the woman politely replied.
Mr Shorten continues to lead the polls as the preferred candidate for the seat of prime minister.
A Newspoll released this week had Labor leading the Coalition Government 52 to 48 per cent, after preferences.
If replicated at the May 18 election, the government would lose 12 seats to Labor, with a swing of 2.4 per cent against them.
Sportsbet still had Labor as the favourite to win the election, with short odds of $1.18 compared with $4.75 for Mr Morrison’s Liberal-National Coalition.
The national economy will return to the agenda on Thursday when the latest jobs figures are released.
Failing to vote in the upcoming election could lead to a $20 fine, and failing to provide a reasonable excuse for not voting could land that person in court