Peter Dutton's choice of location for this first speech of the federal election campaign sends voters a message.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pitched to voters that he has governed through “turbulent seas” during his first term but is ready to govern the country once again.

Experts all agree that mandatory voting is a key factor in Australia's political stability. In the 2022 elections, just under 90% of the population voted – much, much higher than the average OECD turnout of 69%. The fine for not voting in a federal election is a mere A$20 but there's a sense of duty here to go out and vote.

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 election campaign starts with the government and opposition neck and neck – and minority government considered a real possibility.

Anthony Albanese hopes to become the first Australian prime minister in 21 years to lead a political party to two consecutive election victories. The last was John Howard, who won a fourth consecutive term in 2004,