After eight long weeks voters are finally being given their say on who will govern the country.
The major parties have maintained their messages, spruiking jobs, growth, fairness and economic responsibility to the bitter end.
And if the opinion polls are right, the result is too close to call.
But despite the intensity of the campaigning there have been a few lighter moments along the way.
............................ reports.
f1276a PLIBERSEK/SHORTEN 10"
(woman:) "I just want you to pose with my rat. Pose with my rat? Thank you so much. Can you mind it?"
(Shorten:) "OK, just what we wanted ... We've got to find it somewhere to go now."
(Plibersek:) "No, it's mine now!"
Slightly off the campaign radar, Labor's Tanya Plibersek and Bill Shorten were handed a box containing a rat while they toured Sydney's Fish Market.
It was a practical joke by the ABC's Chaser team, but Ms Plibersek later tweeted that the rat was safely at her house, snacking on nuts and banana.
And halfway through the campaign US actor Johnny Depp reignited a war of words with Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce saying he looks like he was "inbred with a tomato".
The actor took the swipe at Mr Joyce - who threatened to have Depp's dogs put down last May unless they were sent back to the United States - during an interview with US talk show host, Jimmy Kimmel.
f1276b DEPP/KIMMEL 11"
Depp: ".. I mean it's not a criticism."
Kimmel: "No, no, not at all, not at all. Quite the contrary."
Depp: "I was a little worried."
Kimmel: "He may have been cross-bred?"
Depp: "No, just that he might explode."
Mr Joyce laughed off the insults.
f1276c JOYCE 16"
"I think I'm turning into Johnny Depp's Hannibal Lecter: I'm inside his head, I'm pulling strings and levers. Long after I've forgotten about Mr Depp, he is remembering me. So just keep on advertising me Johnny. The Australian people know we did the right thing."
A rival candidate for the seat of New England, Independent Tony Windsor, took issue with Mr Joyce too.
He hit out at what he called "gutter" campaigning, over a Nationals' advertisement likening a vote for him to returning to an abusive relationship.
f1276d ADVERTISEMENT 27s
"Look, it's Tony again."
"Tony Windsor?"
"Yeah."
"What does he want?"
"He wants me to take him back."
"Well, it was okay for a time I guess."
"Yeah, but then he ran off with Julia."
"Yeah."
"Do you miss him?"
"Sometimes. But things have changed and I have moved on."
"And you're doing so well without him. How did it end last time?"
"Badly!!"
Queensland M-P Bob Katter was asked to apologise and withdraw a campaign video depicting him as a cowboy shooting his political rivals and blowing smoke from a revolver.
The ad was released just days after 50 people were killed in America's worst-ever shooting in Orlando, Florida.
And the Palmer United Party's advertisement amazed many, who were surprised by the P-U-P's summation of its major achievements.
f1276e ADVERTISEMENT 26s
"Palmer United protected families in the last parliament. We saved the schoolkids bonus, kept university fees low, kept low-income super and low-income support, We stopped the GP co-payment. Palmer United kept Qantas Australian owned, freed 30,000 people from detention and released 436 children from Christmas Island. Palmer United stopped the cuts of $10 billion to social security which would have made people under 30 wait six months for support."
And as election campaigns are wont to do, this one shone a little light into a dark corner of the Australian vernacular.
Opposition immigration spokesman Richard Marles made the comment while talking with cabinet minister Christopher Pyne on SKY News.
f1276f MARLES/PYNE 14s
[Marles]: "The Prime Minister's a total wuss-bag. Not showing up to a debate. Confronted with that he showed up.."
[Pyne:] "A total wuss-bag??"
[Marles:] "He is a total wuss-bag. Confronted with a debate this week, Christopher, he showed all the courage of a fleeing mouse."
Two new polls released just 24 hours out from election day show the contest between the Coalition and Labor is still tight, but Malcolm Turnbull is tipped to emerge the victor.
The Fairfax-Ipsos poll shows them evenly poised on a two-party preferred basis.
Malcolm Turnbull remains the preferred choice for prime minister, leading Opposition Leader Bill Shorten 49 to 35 per cent.
The poll also shows 27 per cent of voters still intend to back the Greens or minor parties and independents.
A poll in News Corp Australia newspapers has the Coalition ahead of Labor, with the swing against the government limited to 2.5 per cent.
Labor needs a swing of four per cent to have a chance of picking up the seats it needs to win the election.
And as difficult as it is to believe, already there's speculation about the leadership of both major parties.
There are reports Mr Shorten needs to deliver a hung parliament or win at least 10 seats from the Coalition to retain Labor's leadership.
And murmurings from within the Liberal camp suggest that a narrow win for the Coalition won't be enough for Mr Turnbull to keep his position - he'd need a strong result.
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Package by Amanda Cavill
