Prime Minister Scott Morrison has appealed to Australians to "vote for what you know" in a fine-tuning of his pitch ahead of the looming federal election.
Mr Morrison is keeping voters in the dark about when the election will be called, saying only that it's "not far away" when asked repeatedly on Friday morning.
The Prime Minister has until April 18 to call the election, with May 21 the latest date in which polling day can be held.
Mr Morrison attended a ceremony to mark the start of work on a major defence industry project outside Geelong on Friday morning, as both he and Labor leader Anthony Albanese continue criss-crossing the nation fighting the unofficial election campaign.
Mr Morrison used the event to frame the election as a choice for voters between a government with a known track record and a Labor alternative which was a "complete blank page".
"You don't know anything about the Labor Party. They haven't told you anything," he said.
"They know who we are. They know what we've achieved. They know what our plans are. They don't know anything about Labor, because Labor haven't told them."
Mr Morrison seized on the lack of clarity around who Mr Albanese would pick as his defence and home affairs ministers to hammer home his point.
The Coalition has questions surrounding its own lineup after the election, with Mr Morrison yet to anoint Greg Hunt's successor in the health portfolio.
The Morrison government on Friday announced it would send a further $26.5 million package of anti-armour weapons and ammunitions to Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian invasion.
The support is on top of the 20 Bushmaster vehicles which Australian will gift to Ukraine.
Mr Morrison's visit to Victoria comes ahead of a High Court challenge which has cast a cloud over the election timetable.
The High Court will at 4pm on Friday hear an application from ex-Liberal member Matthew Camenzuli, who is fighting to have Mr Morrison's intervention into NSW Liberal preselections ruled invalid.
The application has been fast-tracked after the NSW Court of Appeal earlier this week dismissed Mr Camenzuli's case, on the grounds it couldn't rule on internal party disputes.
While the case is live, at least some doubt hangs over the status of the 12 candidates selected as a result of the federal Liberal executive's two interventions into the NSW branch.
In Adelaide to announce a new water policy, Mr Albanese accused Mr Morrison of delaying the election so he could keep using public money to promote what are Coalition policies.
He also lashed out at the string of last-minute appointments of Coalition-linked figures to plum positions, including to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
"Surely there are now no more Liberal former state MPs, federal MPs, local councilors or mayors to appoint to these bodies," he said.
"Like, enough - call the election and let the Australian people decide."
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
