Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull conceded the Bennelong by-election is becoming a “tight race” but was adamant former Liberal MP John Alexander was the right choice for the Sydney seat.
“We're focused on winning but you’re absolutely right, the polls are very tight,” he told journalists while standing alongside Mr Alexander on Wednesday morning.
“There is a very high cost in voting Labor in Bennelong, because if Labor were to win in Bennelong, then Bill Shorten would become very close to becoming Prime Minister.”
The Prime Minister shot down claims from the Labor candidate that the Liberal campaign in the multicultural seat was “spreading China–phobia”.
Malcolm Turnbull said his own family history showed the claims were baseless.
“To suggest that somebody whose granddaughter is one of those one million Australians of Chinese ancestry, is anything other than a friend of Chinese people is absurd, completely absurd. It just shows you how desperate they are.”
But Labor candidate Kristina Keneally said she was hearing concerns from the community.
"It's not just Chinese-Australians, but Korean-Australians too who know they're getting tarred by Malcolm Turnbull's assertion that Asian-Australians are not fully-fledged members of Team Australia," Ms Keneally said.
"I know that he's [Turnbull] more interested in his own day-to-day survival than Australia's future relationships in Asia."
The latest newspoll shows a 50-50 split in two-party preferred votes.
Mr Alexander, a former tennis champion, was forced to resign over dual British citizenship concerns earlier this year.
Ms Keneally, a former NSW Premier, was tapped on the shoulder by Labor leader Bill Shorten to steal the seat from the Liberals.
"I'm never confident until the polls are closed, the votes are counted and the result is in," Ms Keneally told a media conference a Ryde Hospital.
She slammed a website created in her name by the NSW Liberals showing her history with disgraced former Labor politicians Eddie Obeid and Joe Tripodi.
"Today we see a Prime Minister... who is making a fool out of himself," she said.
"Malcolm Turnbull's website is wrong in its facts and he's just wrong for the country."
The Prime Minister said he had no regrets.
“Kristina Keneally failed the people of New South Wales and she cannot object to the facts of her record being raised,” Mr Turnbull said.
“She has to live with her history.”
John Alexander also rejected suggestions from Labor the campaign had turned nasty.
“What is nasty is that my opponent has been unable to tell the truth on any number of issues,” Mr Alexander said.
Tune into SBS World News at 6:30pm for the latest on the Bennelong by-election
