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NSW premier Dominic Perrottet and Labor leader Chris Minns have joined millions of residents to cast their votes at the state election.
Mr Perrottet was accompanied by his wife Helen as the premier filled out his ballot at Beecroft Public School in his seat of Epping, north-west Sydney, on Saturday.
Mr Minns joined volunteers to hand out flyers at Panania Public School, in the inner south-west suburbs, as he prepared to cast his vote for his seat in Kogarah.
NSW premier Dominic Perrottet and Labor leader Chris Minns have joined millions of residents to cast their votes at the state election
Mr Perrottet was accompanied by his wife Helen as the premier filled out his ballot at Beecroft Public School in his seat of Epping, north-west Sydney, on Saturday
Mr Minns joined volunteers to hand out flyers at Panania Public School, in the inner south-west suburbs, as he prepared to cast his vote for his seat in Kogarah
Mr Perrottet is seeking a fourth consecutive term for his Liberal-National coalition while Mr Minns is hoping to return Labor to government for the first time in 12 years.
The Opposition leader admitted he was ‘deeply superstitious’ and made no changes to his routine on the morning of election day.
‘So same breakfast, same coffee at exactly the same time,’ he said.
‘I did a work out at exactly the same minute. Yes, I’m deeply superstitious.’
Mr Minns revealed he managed to get in a good night’s sleep for the first time in a while.
‘I don’t know whether that’s a good or bad omen,’ he said.
‘We’re on the booths bright and early. Just encouraging everybody to get out and vote for the local candidates. It’s time for a change.’
Mr Perrottet appeared calm revealing he had sent Mr Minns a text the night before wishing him well and that he had been texting his predecessor Gladys Berejiklian.
‘We’ve been texting each other and you know she’s been a great support for me,’ he said.
‘We obviously worked very closely together in my previous role as treasurer for five years.
‘She was a great premier and it’s been our team over the last decade that’s really turned around NSW from being the worst performing economy to the strongest.’
More than 1.5 million people had already cast their ballots when early voting closed on Friday night, representing around 28 per cent of the state’s 5.5 million voters
Labor is the strong favourite to win the election, leading the polls and overwhelmingly ahead in betting agency odds
If Labor wins from opposition, it will be the first time the party has managed the feat since 1973
More than 1.5 million people had already cast their ballots when early voting closed on Friday night, representing around 28 per cent of the state’s 5.5 million voters.
Labor is the strong favourite to win the election, leading the polls and overwhelmingly ahead in betting agency odds.
But Mr Perrottet said the result was far from decided and he called on voters to back his party to grow the economy, create jobs and build vital infrastructure.
‘It’s a very important election and we know that there are a lot of undecided voters,’ he said.
The premier voted in Beecroft in the morning, accompanied by his wife Helen and the couple’s youngest daughter, Celeste, before heading south in a final push to bolster the Liberals’ results in western Sydney.
Mr Minns, who will cast his ballot in his marginal seat of Kogarah later in the day, said Labor would fight for every vote until polls closed at 6pm.
‘I still think it’s going to come down to the wire, every bit of information that we’ve had for months now indicates that this is going to be a close election,’ he said.
Mr Minns said Labor’s plan was to rebuild essential services beginning with hospitals and put an end to privatisation of state assets.
Sydneysiders stand in queue at a polling station in Bondi, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs
A Bondi resident carrying a flyer while heading to the polling booth in Sydney’s eastern suburbs
Sydneysiders braved an early start to the morning to cast their votes before long queues formed outside polling stations later in the day
Both leaders have campaigned hard in key seats in Sydney’s west, where one in 10 Australians live and many electorates are on a knife edge.
If Labor wins from opposition, it will be the first time the party has managed the feat since 1973.
On the eve of the election, Newspoll showed Labor leading the coalition 54.5 to 45.5 on a two-party preferred basis.
This would represent a 6.5 per cent swing against the coalition since 2019, putting Labor on a path to claim the 10 seats needed to form a majority government.
The poll put Labor’s primary vote at 38 per cent compared to the coalition vote at 35 per cent and found Mr Minns had overtaken Mr Perrottet as preferred premier.
A raft of minor party and independent candidates vying for the cross bench could make the difference in the event of a minority government, with the Greens and teals vowing to hold the government to account on climate and other progressive reforms.
Rising financial pressure on families and businesses has put cost of living front and centre of the election, with both parties promising relief in the form of rebates on energy bills and caps on road tolls.
NSW Electoral Commissioner John Schmidt said special assistance was available for those who needed it such as the blind, deaf or anyone needing a translator.
Voters have until 6pm to cast their ballots.
Both leaders have campaigned hard in key seats in Sydney’s west, where one in 10 Australians live and many electorates are on a knife edge
The poll put Labor’s primary vote at 38 per cent compared to the coalition vote at 35 per cent and found Mr Minns had overtaken Mr Perrottet as preferred premier
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