FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN: DAY 37
WHERE THE LEADERS CAMPAIGNED
* Prime Minister Scott Morrison: Townsville (Herbert, ALP 0.02 per cent), Cairns (Leichhardt, Lib 3.95 per cent), Gladstone (Flynn, LNP 1.04 per cent)
* Labor leader Bill Shorten: Sydney (Sydney, ALP 15.3 per cent), Carlton (Melbourne, Greens 18.5 per cent)
WHAT THE COALITION WANTED TO TALK ABOUT
How Bill Shorten and Labor plan to increase taxes and if people want to avoid this they should vote for coalition candidates.
WHAT LABOR WANTED TO TALK ABOUT:
How Australians should vote for change, as they did with Bob Hawke in 1983.
THE LATEST POLLS
* Ipsos, published in the SMH and the Age, showed a tightening but with Labor still ahead 51-49 per cent. But it also found those who had voted early favoured the coalition 53-47 per cent.
* YouGov-Galaxy, published in News Corp tabloids, also showed the national result with Labor ahead 51-49 per cent.
* Both polls showed the coalition's primary vote lifted over the campaign but still had it below 40 per cent.
WHAT MADE NEWS:
* Tributes flowed in for former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke, who died peacefully at home aged 89.
* The News Corp newspapers are urging a vote for the coalition in their election-eve editorials. The Nine newspapers - The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald - say Labor offers a better chance at stability, but warn against going too far with reforms. However, stablemate the Australian Financial Review backs the coalition "without great enthusiasm" for economic reasons.
* Rugby Union star Israel Folau's contract with the Waratahs and Wallabies has been terminated by Rugby Australia for social media posts in breach of the professional players code of contract.
THEY SAID WHAT?
"Tony, you're a good man. Keep going, we love you. We know what you're going through. They did the same to Jesus."
- Heather, a caller on 2GB radio where former prime minister Tony Abbott was being interviewed.
