Australia holds a general election Saturday, a hard-fought contest between party leaders with sharply contrasting visions for the country.
Here are five things you need to know about the poll Down Under.
- Blue collar boys -
The election will pit left-leaning incumbent Prime Minister Anthony Albanese against staunchly conservative rival Peter Dutton.
Both have blue-collar backgrounds -- setting them apart from former leaders more typically equipped with Oxbridge degrees and high-flying careers in banking or law.
Albanese, 62, was raised by a single mother in a small government-subsidised flat in Sydney's inner city.
He spent his teenage years caring for his mum Maryanne as she battled the onset of debilitating rheumatoid arthritis.
Dutton, 54, is a bricklayer's son, raised in the suburbs of Brisbane in eastern Australia.
He joined the state police after dropping out of university, and briefly worked at a butcher's shop.
Dutton was a drugs squad detective before running for parliament -- an experience he says has coloured his hard-nosed approach to law and order.
- Going nuclear -
Despite sitting on some of the world's largest uranium deposits, Australia has had an almost complete ban on nuclear energy since 1998.
Dutton wants to reverse this ban and build a nuclear power industry from scratch.
Sceptical of renewables, Dutton has said nuclear power is the only reliable way Australia can reduce emissions over the long term.
Albanese, by contrast, has poured public money into solar power, wind turbines and green manufacturing -- pledging to make the nation a renewable energy superpower.
- Trump card -
US President Donald Trump's decision to slap tariffs on Australia may have helped centre-left Albanese to inch ahead in the latest opinion polls.
Some polls showed Dutton leaking support because of Trump, who he praised earlier this year as a "big thinker" with "gravitas" on the global stage.
Both Dutton and Albanese have since taken a tougher stance.
"If I needed to have a fight with Donald Trump, or any other world leader, to advance our nation's interest, I'd do it in a heartbeat," Dutton said in April.
Albanese has condemned Trump's tariffs as an act of "economic self-harm" and "not the act of a friend".
"He has different views, different values," the prime minister said in a televised debate.
"I support free and fair trade. He doesn't."
- Cost of living -
Polls say it's the biggest issue on voters' minds.
Albanese's centre-left Labor Party promises modest tax cuts, cheaper doctor visits, more subsidised childcare, electricity bill rebates, a 20-percent reduction in student debt, and thousands of new homes just for first-time buyers.
Dutton's Liberal-National coalition says it will slash tax on gasoline and diesel for a year, reserve some local natural gas output just for Australia, match the government on cheap healthcare, and invest in infrastructure needed for up to 500,000 new homes.
- Climate -
Dutton touts a US$200 billion plan to build seven large-scale nuclear reactors by 2050, while ramping up gas production, and slowing the rollout of solar and wind projects.
Albanese has embraced the global push towards decarbonisation, pouring public money into the renewable sector, which he says will supply 82 percent of Australia's electricity by 2030.
(Inputs from AFP)
