In the final hours of the campaign our leaders were distilling their messages to the Australian people.

The key messages boiled down to two themes.

Vote for change: In Sydney’s Bowman Hall – the same place Gough Whitlam made his famous “It’s Time” speech in 1972 – Labor leader Bill Shorten asked “the women and men of Australia to vote for change”.

Vote for no change: At the opposite end of the spectrum, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said only his government would keep things stable.

Speaking at The National Press Club, Mr Morrison stressed his government’s plans for home ownership and low taxes.

He said a government under Labor would be an experiment and would take away people’s financial autonomy.

Where were they?

Mr Morrison was in Canberra. He was also wooing small business owners in the Sydney seat of Reid.

Mr Shorten was in Sydney for his final oration to party faithful and to  campaign in the seat of Reid.

Promises … promises

Labor: Mr Shorten promised Labor would take climate change seriously, referring to it as a “climate emergency” that Australians can solve.

He said his government would deliver an immediate wage increase and even flagged the prospect of Australia becoming a republic should he become PM.

.@billshortenmp: Vote Labor because we are the only party with the courage and the principles and the plan to take real action on climate change.

MORE: https://t.co/DOkPkKjeYk #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/IrgbsjuXBL

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 16, 2019

Liberal: Mr Morrison’s speech at The National Press Club began with him taking a swipe at Mr Shorten for not participating in the forum.

Mr Morrison moved onto what was a laundry list of his party’s promises: Keeping taxes low, job creation, stressing secure borders, investing in hospitals and building key infrastructure.

.@ScottMorrisonMP: I’m asking Australians to elect me and not Bill Shorten as your prime minister. It’s been 8 months I’ve been in this job, but I can tell you I’m just getting started. The hunger is burning deep within me.

MORE: https://t.co/pUCAfPweXk #npc pic.twitter.com/S0dXZbwwyG

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 16, 2019

Quotes from the road

“I love coriander.”
–Mr Morrison admits his favourite herb is coriander

“I will burn for you every day, every single day, so you can achieve your ambitions, your aspirations, your desires.”
–The PM attempting to recruit John Farnham or Tina Arena on why Australians should vote for him

“Terry McCrann said vote Bowen and Shorten to end the world and Kerri-Anne says vote Labor to end life as we know it. Neither of these things are in our policy documents.”
– Treasurer Chris Bowen on some high-profile opinions

Elsewhere on the election trail

Refugee swap deal gives Australia two alleged murderers: A pair of Rwandan men accused of murdering Western tourists in 1999 have reportedly been settled in Australia under the US-Australia refugee swap.

The news had some politicians in a fluster with Mr Morrison later defending Australia’s immigration and intelligence services.

“Our government will always ensure that those character and national security considerations are undertaken for anyone who seeks to enter this country,” Mr Morrison said.

Just trying to think of the absolute, ear-splitting hysteria we'd be getting from News Corp and 2GB right now if a Labor government had allowed two accused mass murderers to resettle in Australia to solve a political problem.

— Bernard Keane (@BernardKeane) May 16, 2019

Opposition treasury spokesman Chris Bowen said Labor would seek urgent briefings on the report and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was all fired up.

SECRET DEAL ALLOWS ACCUSED RWANDAN MURDERERS INTO AUSTRALIA

One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson called out the Morrison Government over their decision to allow two Rwandan refugees who confessed to murder to resettle in Australia.#Auspol #ausvotes19 #australiavotes2019 pic.twitter.com/3UQN1nIauW

— Pauline Hanson 🇦🇺 (@PaulineHansonOz) May 16, 2019

MP’s office vandalised: Liberal MP Nicolle Flint had her office vandalised on Thursday, with windows covered with explicit graffiti that included calling her a “skank”.

The incumbent in the seat of Boothby is not the first candidate to face vandalism. Earlier this month, Greens Senate candidate Major ‘Moogy’ Sumner – a Ngarrindjeri elder – was targeted by hate speech on one of his election campaign posters.

Coalition costings: At the eleventh hour of the campaign, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann revealed the Coalition’s costing report. Mr Cormann says the election promises only amount to $1.4 billion in extra spending.

.@JoshFrydenberg and @MathiasCormann on Thursday revealed an additional $1.4 billion in new spending measures from the Coalition. https://t.co/5uBQZlzaOm

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 16, 2019

That’s odd

On Wednesday Burt the Crocodile predicted an ALP victory, and on Thursday Sportsbet chipped in with this.

EARLY PAYOUT! LABOR WIN…
We’ve paid out early on Labor to win the Federal Election. #ausvotes19 pic.twitter.com/2hdpV8SPDl

— Sportsbet.com.au (@sportsbetcomau) May 15, 2019