Australia election 2025 live: First polls open as prime minister says 'grand final day' is here

SBS Australia

03-05-2025

25m ago 11:47am It's getting pretty close to lunchtime in most states and territories, and Western Australians are easing into brunch.
For many Australians, it simply wouldn't be an election day without that most revered of traditions — a sausage between a bit of bread, some sauce, and perhaps a few grilled onions.
If you're keen on snagging a snag, then the crowd-sourced website Democracy Sausage has the information you need.
Donna McMckendray seems pretty happy with her democracy sausage outside a polling booth in the electorate of Goldstein in Melbourne. Source: AAP / Diego Fedele For another year, the group has created an interactive map where you can find the polling booths with sausage sizzles and cake sales in your area, among other details.
Check out the more than 2,500 estimated booths serving food .
— Cameron Carr
35m ago 11:37am After more than a month of campaigning, there have been dozens of pledges made by the major parties.
Rania Yallop and Elfy Scott from SBS News' Party Time election podcast series have broken down the big promises, as well as looking at what areas have been overlooked in the campaigns.
Have a listen below, or catch up on every episode of Party Time via your favourite podcast app or .
— Alex Gallagher
47m ago 11:25am More than 30 political parties are contesting this election, and most are minor ones.
At the last election in 2022, almost one in three Australians voted for a minor party or an independent candidate — the highest number in almost 100 years.
That led to 16 independent and minor MPs joining the crossbench in the House of Representatives, with the power to take part in debates and introduce bills.
As micro and mini parties increasingly grow in popularity, who are some of the key players, and what do they stand for? Yasmine Alwakal and Alexandra Koster have broken down the minor parties who are vying for your vote, and what they're offering .
— Cameron Carr
1h ago 11:09am Speaking of Dickson, Ali France is Labor's candidate for Peter Dutton 's electorate in Queensland, which is held by the Coalition with a 1.7 per cent margin — the closest in the state.
SBS News' Andrew Chappelle spoke to France at a polling centre this morning, asking how she felt as she contests Dutton's seat for the third time.
"I'm hopeful," France said. "I think it's gonna be really close in this seat."
"It's always close in this seat, but it feels a bit more positive than last time, so that gives me a bit of hope. We've worked exceptionally hard for seven years in this seat ... People know me, they know what I stand for, so it feels good this time around."
On the issue that's stayed at the forefront of voters' minds in the lead-up to election day, France said it's always been cost of living, and that, increasingly, people have been looking at which party is going to put more money in their pockets.
— Alex Gallagher
1h ago 10:59am Earlier this morning, Peter Dutton made his final pitch to voters while appearing on breakfast TV.
Asked if he will step down as Opposition leader if he loses the election, Dutton says you "can't go into the grand final talking like that".
"I'm 54. I'm still very young and I've just got a burning passion for this country," he told Nine's Today Show.
"I just think we live in the best country in the world. Whatever we can do to make it even better is what we contribute ourselves to."
The Coalition leader has made a number of TV appearances today, making several stops throughout Melbourne, and is expected to lodge his own vote in his Queensland electorate of Dickson later today.
— Cameron Carr
2h ago 10:24am Forty of the Senate's 76 seats are up for grabs at this election.
Since senators represent entire states and territories, the ballot paper is much longer than for the House of Representatives.
In past state and federal elections, some ballots have measured over a metre long from the sheer number of candidates and parties running.
You can find out who is running for the upper house in your state or territory .
— Cameron Carr
2h ago 10:08am Polls have opened in WA and are running across the country until 6pm local time.
While it could be days until we know the outcome of the election, the Australian Electoral Commission anticipates early results around an hour after polls close.
"It is reasonable to expect that some of the smaller polling places will have results posted from around 7pm local time with a steadier flow of mid-large sized polling places from around 8-8:30pm local time onwards," its website reads.
— Cameron Carr
2h ago 10:08am Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made a pre poll appearance at the Liberal-held seat of Menzies.
A redistribution has made the multicultural suburban seat notionally Labor territory, with Labor candidate Gabriel Ng taking on Liberal moderate Keith Wolahan .
Albanese spoke with Labor volunteers, while Coalition campaigners stood quietly and respectfully nearby.
One Liberal supporter even shook the prime minister's hand, who thanked him for doing his part in democracy.
The tone was calmer than other pre-poll visits, in which Albanese has received a few heckles.
A woman had to be pulled away by security at a pre-poll centre on Friday after trying to confront the Labor leader.
— Naveen Razik
2h ago 9:48am Polling centres have been open for nearly two hours now on Australia's east coast, and voters have begun heading to the polls in droves.
Here are a couple of photos from Bondi in Sydney, where locals are taking a break from catching waves to exercise their democratic rights.
— Alex Gallagher
3h ago 9:35am Peter Dutton is pulling up to his 17th petrol station of the campaign in Melbourne's north-west suburb of Melton, in the Labor seat of Gorton.
The electorate is held on a 10 per cent margin — but with member Brendan O'Connor retiring, it's believed the seat is in play.
Liberal campaign spokesman James Paterson is waiting at the bowser to welcome the Opposition leader, who has pulled up in a truck with double trouble signage and a photo of Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese .
Dutton handed out chocolates to the media, bought with the hypothetical savings one could expect under the Coalition's promised 25 cents per litre reduction to the fuel excise .
He also said hello to a young boy about to go to a footy game who wished him good luck.
— Sara Tomevska
3h ago 9:18am There were long queues at the voting station at Zinc Fed Square in Melbourne's CBD, which serves seven electorates; Melbourne, Macnamara, Cooper, Gellibrand, Wills, Maribyrnong and Kooyong.
But as polls opened, there was not yet much demand for the humble democracy sausage stall, which was being run by Fed Square fixture Mama's Gozleme — although a line can be expected to form once those hungry voters are finished.
— Shiv é Prema
3h ago 9:05am
3h ago 8:50am Opposition leader Peter Dutton has categorically denied a Labor claim the Coalition is targeting age pensions, describing it as a "shameful" last-minute scare campaign.
The Coalition's costings include a line item to reduce overseas eligibility for social services payments to four weeks, calculated to make a saving of $74.3 million over four years.
The prime minister told SBS World News yesterday that the measure would target pensioners.
"If pensioners go overseas for four weeks, they will have their pensions suspended. That will impact many of your listeners, elderly Greek Australians, Italian Australians, Portuguese Australians, so many Australians who do share their time between Australia and the country of their birth," Anthony Albanese said.
But Dutton responded in an interview with SBS News saying that claim was untrue.
"It's just completely false and I think it's actually shameful the prime minister would seek to scare older Australians. It's just another lie out of this campaign," he said.
"We have no changes in relation to pensioners. In fact, there is more support we are providing to pensioners."
When pressed to explain who the measure was targeting, the Opposition leader said the budget saving would come from targeting the parenting payment, which will be paid for a month when someone travels overseas.
"It relates to some people, for example, on parenting payments who can go overseas at the moment for six weeks, and we are going to reduce that to four weeks before there's any change to their payment, so it's actually quite a minor change and it doesn't apply to age pensioners."
A Coalition spokesperson said: "Age pensioners will continue to be able to travel overseas and receive the pension for at least 26 weeks, as per the current rules."
— Anna Henderson
4h ago 8:38am SBS News chief political correspondent Anna Henderson has interviewed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in the final stretches of the federal election campaign.
Henderson spoke with the candidates about their qualifications to lead the nation and their vision for Australia. Watch that below:
— Cameron Carr
4h ago 8:30am The polls have now opened in South Australia and the Northern Territory, and will close at 6pm local time.
The Australian Electoral Commission has a search tool you can use to find your nearest voting venue .
If this is your first time voting, or you're feeling a bit rusty from the last federal election in 2022, here's a quick guide on casting your ballot today:
— Cameron Carr
4h ago 8:00am It's 8am AEST, and polling centres in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, the ACT and Tasmania have now opened.
The Australian Electoral Commission website has a search tool for finding your nearest voting centre .
If you have travelled interstate and are voting today, you will have to find a specific interstate voting centre to visit.
— Cameron Carr
4h ago 7:46am The AFL metaphors have come thick and fast from the prime minister, spruiking the government's "strong offer" for the Australian people.
"Today is grand final day," Anthony Albanese told Channel 7. "I've left nothing on the field. And I'll leave nothing on the field over the next three years."
Talking up his candidates, Albanese said: "I'm captain of the team, but I'm not playing full forward, centre half, forward and half back."
The footy talk even extended to using an "MCG" as a unit of measurement for how many Australians are impacted by their policies.
"I must have won a prize for most footy puns," he joked with the media, on what has been a frigid morning thus far.
— Naveen Razik
5h ago 7:39am Peter Dutton is having his second coffee of the day at a cafe in the nearby electorate of Goldstein.
"Crime is such a big issue here," Liberal candidate Tim Wilson tells Dutton .
"There's so many stories of people being woken up in the middle of the night, it's scary."
The Opposition leader responds that such experiences can impact people for life.
"There's a lot more the government can do about it, it starts with organised crime … I think we can reduce crime in the suburbs if we take it more seriously."
— Sara Tomevska
5h ago 7:31am The prime minister has arrived at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to begin the election day big dance.
Anthony Albanese has described Labor's re-election strategy as "kicking with the wind in the fourth quarter", and has this morning taken that soaring rhetoric to new areas, walking onto the hallowed turf to do his breakfast television interviews.
If it wasn't clear from this morning's photo opportunity, there is a supreme sense of confidence among the Labor camp, with the overnight Newspoll and YouGov poll suggesting Labor will win the two-party preferred vote.
But today's contest may still deliver a few surprises as the clock winds down.
— Naveen Razik
5h ago 7:19am Opposition leader Peter Dutton 's democracy day is beginning in the seat of Macnamara, considered a very safe Labor seat on a margin of 12.2 per cent.
Macnamara is in Melbourne's south, and is home to Australia's largest Jewish community — currently held by Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns.
The Liberal Party is looking for an upset as Labor decides to preference the Greens under the Liberal candidate, in response to the minor party's strident opposition to Israel's war in Gaza, which it has labelled a genocide.
Combating rising antisemitism in the community is one of Dutton's key election platforms.
At a local cafe, Dutton sat down with Liberal candidate Benson Saulo over a coffee. An innocent bystander enjoying a moment of solitude was surprised when suddenly swamped by cameras. He didn't seem to mind! Caffeine is key on election day.
— Sara Tomevska