Both Albanese and Dutton, who is opposition leader, began Saturday in the electorally crucial city of Melbourne. Albanese will return home to Sydney to vote and Dutton will head to his hometown of Brisbane

Dutton wants to become the first political leader to oust a first-term government since 1931, when Australians were reeling from the Great Depression

Asked if he believed his conservative coalition could win the election, Dutton told reporters in Melbourne: "Absolutely, I do"

"There are a lot of quiet Australians out there who may not be telling their neighbours how they`re voting but I think they`re going to go into the polling booth and say: You know what, I`m not going to reward Anthony Albanese for the last three years," Dutton told Australian Broadcasting Corp

Albanese was measured about his centre-left Labor Party`s chances of securing a second three-year term

"We take absolutely nothing for granted until the results are in," Albanese told Nine Network television in Melbourne

Albanese stands to become the first Australian prime minister to win successive elections in 21 years

The election is taking place against a backdrop of what both sides of politics describe as a cost of living crisis

Housing prices and rents have soar as builders have gone broke amid rapid inflation

Going into the election, Labour held a narrow majority of 78 seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties form governments. There will be 150 seats in the next parliament due to redistributions