The prime minister and opposition leader have both made eleventh hour visits. They visited key South Australian electorates in their final federal election campaign.
The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese along with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles went straight to a polling booth in Sturt.
They had 10 minutes to shake hands with candidate Claire Clutterham, Labor volunteers and locals. After that they jumped back in the car.
The quick stop was targeting a seat that some polls are now showing could go to Labor.
Sturt was once a safe Liberal seat. Now it is held by the party’s James Stevens on a margin of just 0.5 per cent.
On the same day as the prime minister’s visit, Mr Stevens also had some last-minute support from his party’s leader.
Fresh off a flight from Tasmania, Peter Dutton headed to the Arkaba Hotel in Sturt. He hold an evening rally for about 500 Liberal members and party volunteers. He handed out how-to-vote cards at the same pre-poll booth at the Marden Shopping Centre earlier in the day. Mr Stevens and Ms Clutterham both admitted it was a tight race.
“I don’t think we’ll find out the result in Sturt on the night,” Mr Stevens said.
“I think it’ll be an extremely tight contest like it was last time. It could take a few days to see the result.”
About 30 per cent of the electorate has already voted through pre-poll and postal votes. The candidates said the final push was crucial.
“People are saying, ‘There’s only two days left to federal election campaign’, and yes that’s right and those are the two days you’ve got to go hardest,” Ms Clutterham said.
“Having the support of the prime minister on the ground on the second-to-last day before election day is huge for me.”
Boothby also on the federal election campaign
After his short stop in Sturt, the prime minister continued to Boothby where he met with TAFE SA students who are learning building trades, which was an opportunity to spruik Labor’s fee-free TAFE policy.
Boothby is held by Labor’s Louise Miller-Frost on a margin of 3.3 per cent, but with former Liberal MP Nicolle Flint challenging her, it’s been an electorate both parties have been targeting.
Ms Miller-Frost was by the prime minister’s side in his TAFE visit, but the opposition leader didn’t make it to Boothby on Thursday.
Instead, it was Ms Flint who took the spotlight at his rally, welcoming Mr Dutton to the stage, to a rousing reception from party faithful.
Despite the last-minute visits, neither leader has given South Australia as much attention as other states.
They have made many more trips to places including Melbourne’s outer suburbs, northern Queensland, Perth and Sydney’s west, where there are more electorates that could make or break the major parties.
