NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Labor leader Chris Minns have joined millions of residents in casting their ballots in state elections.
Perrottet was accompanied by his wife Helen as the prime minister filled out his ballot paper at Beecroft Public School at its Epping headquarters, northwest of Sydney, on Saturday.
Minns joined volunteers in handing out flyers at Panania Public School in the inner southwestern suburbs as she prepared to cast her ballot for her Kogarah seat.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Labor leader Chris Minns have joined millions of residents in casting their ballots in state elections.
Perrottet was accompanied by his wife Helen as the prime minister filled out his ballot paper at Beecroft Public School at its Epping headquarters, northwest of Sydney, on Saturday.
Mr Minns joined volunteers in handing out flyers at Panania Public School in the inner southwestern suburbs as he prepared to cast his ballot for his Kogarah seat.
Perrottet is seeking a fourth consecutive term for his Liberal-National coalition, while Minns hopes Labor will return to government for the first time in 12 years.
The opposition leader admitted he was “deeply superstitious” and made no changes to his routine on election day morning.
“So same breakfast, same coffee at exactly the same time,” he said.
‘I did an exercise at exactly the same minute. Yes, I am deeply superstitious.
Minns revealed that she managed to get a good night’s sleep for the first time in a long time.
“I don’t know if that’s a good or bad omen,” he said.
We are in the cabins very early. Just encouraging everyone to go out and vote for local candidates. It’s time for a change.’
Perrottet appeared calm and revealed that he had texted Minns the night before wishing her well and that he had been texting his predecessor Gladys Berejiklian.
“We’ve been texting and you know she’s been a huge support to me,” he said.
‘Obviously we worked very closely in my previous role as treasurer for five years.
“She was a great Prime Minister and it’s been our team over the last decade that really took NSW from being the worst performing economy to being the strongest.”
More than 1.5 million people had already cast their ballots when early voting closed Friday night, representing about 28 percent of the state’s 5.5 million voters.
Labor are the heavy favorites to win the election, leading in the polls and overwhelmingly ahead of the bookmakers’ odds.
If Labor wins from the opposition, it will be the first time the party has accomplished the feat since 1973.
More than 1.5 million people had already cast their ballots when early voting closed Friday night, representing about 28 percent of the state’s 5.5 million voters.
Labor are the heavy favorites to win the election, leading in the polls and overwhelmingly ahead of the bookmakers’ odds.
But Perrottet said the outcome was far from decided and called on voters to back his party to grow the economy, create jobs and build vital infrastructure.
“It is a very important election and we know that there are many undecided voters,” he said.
The prime minister voted in Beecroft in the morning, accompanied by his wife Helen and the couple’s youngest daughter Celeste, before heading south in a final effort to bolster the Liberal results in western Sydney.
Minns, who will cast her ballot in her Kogarah fringe seat later that day, said Labor will fight for every vote until polls close at 6 p.m.
“I still believe that everything will be resolved, all the information that we have had for months indicates that this will be a close election,” he said.
Minns said Labor’s plan was to rebuild essential services starting with hospitals and end the privatization of state assets.
Sydneysiders queue at a polling station in Bondi, in the eastern suburbs of Sydney
A Bondi resident carries a flyer as he heads to the polling booth in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Sydneysiders braved an early morning start to cast their votes before long queues formed outside polling stations later that day.
Both leaders have campaigned strongly in key seats in western Sydney, where one in 10 Australians live and many voters are on a knife-edge.
If Labor wins from the opposition, it will be the first time the party has accomplished the feat since 1973.
On the eve of the election Newspoll showed Labor leading the coalition with 54.5 to 45.5 on a bipartisan preference basis.
This would represent a 6.5 percent swing against the coalition since 2019, putting Labor on track to claim the 10 seats needed to form a majority government.
The poll put the Labor primary vote at 38 percent compared to the coalition vote at 35 percent and found that Minns had overtaken Perrottet as preferred prime minister.
A series of independent and minority party candidates vying for the cross-bench could make the difference in the case of a minority government, with the Greens and Teals vowing to hold the government to account on climate and other progressive reforms.
Mounting financial pressure on families and businesses has put the cost of living front and center in the election, with both parties pledging relief in the form of rebates on energy bills and caps on highway tolls.
New South Wales election commissioner John Schmidt said special assistance was available for those who needed it, such as the blind, the deaf or anyone who needed a translator.
Voters have until 6:00 pm to cast their vote.
Both leaders have campaigned strongly in key seats in western Sydney, where one in 10 Australians live and many voters are on a knife-edge.
The poll put the Labor primary vote at 38 percent compared to the coalition vote at 35 percent and found that Minns had overtaken Perrottet as preferred prime minister.
