Australians are expected to find out this weekend exactly when they'll have to go to the polls as voters air frustrations about the leaders of the two major parties.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to announce on Sunday the election date, with May 11 and 18 the most likely options.
May 25 and June 1 are also possibilities if the Australian Electoral Commission is granted extra funding to expedite counting, ABC election analyst Antony Green says.
Meanwhile, a YouGov Galaxy poll published by News Corp Australia has suggested 28 per cent of voters will back a minor party rather than Labor or the coalition.
About 23.3 per cent of Australians sent primary lower house votes to minor parties in 2016, predominantly to the Greens (10.2 per cent).
Australians are also not crash-hot on the prime minister, or Labor leader Bill Shorten, with "smug" being linked to the leaders by about 30 per cent of those polled.
A similar proportion nominated "arrogant" and "untrustworthy" as ways to describe the pair.
Mr Morrison was seen as "well-intentioned" by 34 per cent, slightly higher than those who thought the same about Mr Shorten.
Still, they fared better than former MP Clive Palmer, who is viewed as either arrogant or untrustworthy by almost half the electorate.
Mr Morrison spent Friday defending his government's record on health, schools and tax after announcing the budget would return to surplus in the next financial year.
Medicare had "never been stronger" than under the coalition, he said, pointing to a 27 per cent hike in funding since 2013 and 60 per cent rise in hospital spending.
Opposition Leader Mr Shorten used his budget reply speech on Thursday to hammer the coalition over its lack of commitment to health, cuts to education and tax breaks for the rich.
"Your postcode shouldn't determine the quality of your health care; your credit card shouldn't determine the quality of your health care - it should be your Medicare card," he told reporters on Friday.
SOURCE AAP
