Labor MP Mike Kelly, who holds the bellwether seat of Eden-Monaro, isn't taking victory as a done deal despite a new opinion poll showing him well ahead of his Liberal opponent.
A Patterson Market Research poll has Labor holding a 21-point lead in the southern NSW seat.
That's three times the margin of the 2007 election result when Dr Kelly ousted sitting Liberal minister Gary Nairn.
Dr Kelly said he wasn't making any assumptions about the result in his diverse electorate.
"To get an accurate sample in a seat like this is almost impossible," he told reporters in Queanbeyan on Monday, while campaigning with government frontbencher Greg Combet.
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"What we do know is that it's always knife-edge stuff."
Eden-Monaro has been held by the government of the day in every election since 1972.
The Patterson poll shows Labor garnering 53 per cent of the primary vote - up eight per cent on the 2007 poll - with the Liberals capturing 36 per cent, down seven percentage points.
Economic management and health were major issues with voters, Dr Kelly said.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the Liberal Party had a terrific candidate for Eden-Monaro in David Gazard.
"I know David Gazard very well," Mr Abbott told reporters while campaigning in suburban Brisbane on Monday.
"He would be a real addition to the parliament as well as being an extraordinarily good local member who will really fight for the people of Eden-Monaro."
"I am looking forward to having him as a colleague."
