Early voting: West Aussies rush to vote as Albanese and Dutton due to land in WA in the next 24 hours

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton are both due to land in WA in the next 24 hours, but that will be too little too late for the many West Australians who have already rushed out to cast their votes. As early voting officially opened on Tuesday morning, thousands of people hit the polls, with some eager to get voting out of the way amid a slow-moving election campaign. By 2.30pm on Tuesday, more than 512,000 people had already cast their vote across the country — almost 3 per cent of voters. In exit polling conducted across the State by The West Australian, the Liberals were narrowly ahead — 37 per cent to Labor’s 36 per cent — among 400 voters. The tight contest comes with both Mr Dutton and Mr Albanese due to touch down in Perth on Wednesday, with the Opposition Leader set to announce his party’s Defence policy. On Thursday, the Prime Minister is scheduled to deliver an address at The West Australian’s Leadership Matters event. Cost of living proved to be one of the the biggest issues for voters at booths across the State, with people evenly split on who was best placed to tackle the crisis. Liberal voters flagged concerns about wasteful government spending, the live sheep export ban and the state of the economy for backing in Mr Dutton, while Labor voters supporting Mr Albanese getting a second term pointed to health care and the Coalition’s nuclear policy. Both Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton were given as reasons by voters for choosing the other party. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles joined Labor MP Zaneta Mascarenhas and Premier Roger Cook at a prepoll booth in Bentley, saying the party’s success in WA was important to securing a second term. “The Albanese Government, from the moment that it was elected has understood the significance of this State to our nation,” Mr Marles said. “We’ve understood that the most significant challenge that has faced Western Australians over the last three years has been around the cost of living. “We understand how important WA is. I’ve been a frequent visitor here, the Prime Minister has been an even more frequent visitor than me, and that is because we absolutely get that Western Australia matters.” “It’s a partnership which is delivering cost-of-living relief, delivering education, delivering full funding for WA schools. It’s an important partnership, and I want to see it continue,” he said. “I urge every Western Australian to reflect on that partnership, the importance of continuing to make sure that the Western Australian economy marches forward as part of that partnership.” Asked if he was expecting an increased role in the campaign over the next 10 days, Mr Cook said: “I’ll play whatever role the Labor Party sees fit.” Liberal candidate for Swan Mic Fels watched on, as dozens of voters waited up to half an hour to get into the community centre to cast their ballot. In the teal-held seat of Curtin, Liberal Tom White had a lead over independent Kate Chaney according to a small sample size taken across several booths. “You’d expect me to say this — but the energy at the early voting booths today was genuinely positive. I was on the booths all day and people were upbeat, engaged, and clearly ready for change,” Mr White said. In Canning, long-time Liberal voters Peter and Fleur Hyland said cost of living, Labor’s lies and power were their biggest issues. “Of course I vote Liberal, we can’t have another three years of that,” Mr Hyland said, before Mrs Hyland added: “It’s gone too far to the left, if it had been Bob Hawke days it would be different, it’s gone far too bad.” June and Richard Hynes, from Denmark, both voted Labor because they dislike Mr Dutton, a stance echoed by fellow Denmark resident Robert Hunter, who added the Liberals had messed up for 10 years. “People have short memories,” Mr Hunter said. “It is about the social factors, treating people equitably and not robbing the poor to give to the rich.” In Forrest, where Liberal Ben Small is looking to succeed long-term incumbent Nola Marino against Climate 200-backed challenger Sue Chapman, the independent had a lead. Len Boyle said he voted for the Liberals to protect the interest of farmers. “I’m from the country originally and we rely so much on the farmers. We can’t eat iron ore — we’ve got to have the mines, but we’ve also got to have someone who helps to look after the farmers,” he said. Eaton resident Christine Grace said she voted for Labor primarily to have “continuity” with the Albanese Government. “That’s who we’ve got now and I don’t think we need to change,” she said. Additional reporting by Artemisia Blythe, Rachel Fenner and Ezra Kaye