Federal election 2022: Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese says he's left nothing on the field as polls tighten

Mr Albanese began election day in Melbourne, where he appeared in the Liberal-held seat of Higgins just hours after polls opened on the east coast.

Greeted by a media scrum and Labor volunteers in the blue-ribbon seat, Mr Albanese declared it was "time on in the fourth quarter".

"I said I wanted to be kicking with the wind at our back in the fourth quarter," he said.

"I slept well knowing I left nothing on the field," he added.

Saturday's stop had all the obligatory campaign optics - chats with children, cuddles with a cavoodle, and selfies with Labor supporters turning out to meet their leader.

There were also the normal hiccups, a Liberal volunteer blasting anti-Labor music through a speaker as Mr Albanese departed.

Labor is attempting to wrest Higgins, a traditionally conservative seat, from the Coalition for the first time by seizing on disaffection with Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

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Liberal MP Katie Allen, a moderate, is facing a concerted challenge from Labor candidate Michelle Ananda-Rajah, who appeared alongside Mr Albanese on Saturday morning.

NewsPoll on Friday evening found Labor's primary vote had shrunk by two points to 36 per cent, above the Coalition on 35 per cent. But the opposition retained a 53-47 lead on a two-party preferred basis.

Mr Albanese was also neck-and-neck with Mr Morrison as the country's preferred prime minister, having consistently trailed on that metric throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

He has consistently claimed he is focusing solely on a Labor majority, but a hung Parliament remains a distinct possibility as Australians abandon the major parties in record numbers.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to cast his vote in his Cronulla-based seat of Cook early this afternoon.

Mr Morrison will need to pull off a second miracle election victory to keep the Coalition in power, with the bookmakers and pollsters putting Labor ahead. The Prime Minister made one final dash to Victoria to hand out how-to-vote cards in Labor-held McEwen as the polling booths opened on Saturday morning.

The Prime Minister cancelled a scheduled visit to Gladys Liu's seat of Chisholm, choosing instead fly straight back to Sydney to cast his vote in his home electorate. Mr Morrison used a run of breakfast media interviews to again implore Australians not to risk a Labor government as the country emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. He also defended his character and record in government, telling ABC's Weekend Breakfast: "critics criticise, leaders lead".