With Australians set to cast their votes some time before May 17, Anthony Albanese has embarked on an unofficial campaign tour through Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
The north Queensland seat of Leichhardt is one of the seats within Labor's grasp as it is held by retiring Liberal MP Warren Entsch on a 3.4 per cent margin.
So Mr Albanese started his day in Cairns, spruiking millions in funding for housing, community facilities and local infrastructure as he drew contrasts between his government and the coalition.
"At the next election, people will have a choice between Labor - committed to addressing cost-of-living pressures while building Australia's future - or (Opposition Leader) Peter Dutton, who will cost Australians more," he told the ABC on Wednesday.
The prime minister will later travel west to Mount Isa, before journeying to the remote Northern Territory community of Alpurrurulam.
Most of the NT is encompassed by the seat of Lingiari, held by Labor MP Marion Scrymgour on a razor-thin 0.9 per cent margin, and the government will have to fight to hold on after their territory counterparts were demolished by the Country Liberal Party at the 2024 election.
Sussan Ley says the prime minister's cross-country blitz "smacks a little bit of desperation". (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)
Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has said the prime minister's cross-country blitz "smacks a little bit of desperation" as most Australians would prefer to be watching the cricket.
But the government knows it cannot be complacent.
"We don't take any outcomes in the election for granted," Treasurer Jim Chalmers told ABC radio.
"The election will be very tough, it will be very tight.
"People are under very substantial pressure and they often express themselves politically."
As the cost of living continues to rise, Australians are directing their discontent at the major parties.
Polling predicts neither Labor nor the coalition can form a majority government, which could offer an opportunity for minor parties and independents to exert their influence.
"The stakes are really high," Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young told ABC radio.
"We are living in a world where our climate is getting worse, our environment is on the brink of collapse.
"We're losing native species and habitat and natural spaces at a rate like never before, and we have a huge cost of living crisis that's impacting very vulnerable groups within our community, and we need solutions."
Though the Greens political party went backwards at the 2024 Queensland state election, it received its strongest federal election result at the 2022 contest and the senator says recent polling has been favourable.
She urged Mr Albanese not to "cower" to the mining industry when he continues his trip into WA later in the week.
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