Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced Australians will go to the polls on May 18, telling voters "now is not the time to turn back" to Labor.
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Opinion polls are pointing to the Liberal-National coalition losing power to Labor leader Bill Shorten's team after six years in office.
But Mr Morrison said there was much at stake at the election and only the coalition could deliver a strong economy and the dividends of that.
"It's taken us more than five years to turn around Labor's budget mess," Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.
"Now is not the time to turn back. Keeping our economy strong is how we secure your future and your family's future."
Mr Shorten told reporters on his morning run in Melbourne he was prepared for the campaign ahead.
"I'm ready for the election, I'm ready for government," he said.
"I've got a more united, experienced team. This election will be a choice, it will be a choice about more cuts or better health care for your family."
In the federal seat of Kennedy, Bob Katter - who turns 74 a week after the election - will be standing for election for the 11th time having held the seat since 1993.
He will be up against former Charters Towers mayor Frank Beveridge who is standing for the LNP and Brett McGuire who is standing for Labor - all three frontrunners live in Charters Towers.
Also running for election in Kennedy is Sue Bertuch standing for the United Australia Party led by Clive Palmer.
Kennedy is a vast electorate stretching from the outer suburbs of Cairns and Townsville across the North West to the NT border including Mount Isa and the lower Gulf of Carpentaria.
On Thursday Mr Katter attacked vegan activists for shutting down Melbourne CBD's and raiding a Queensland meatworks, calling on the Federal Government to support a law to enforce jail time for interrupting business operations and trespassing on private property.
Meanwhile Mr McGuire was campaigning in Yarrabah near Cairns with Labor Senate candidate Nita Green while Mr Beveridge was encouraging local students to apply for a Government-funded scholarship to assist with the costs of their tertiary education under the expanded $58.1 million Rural and Regional Enterprise Scholarships program.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
