The campaign ran for eight months, but the business end of the race took a matter of minutes.
The coalition's return to power in the 2013 federal election may have been a foregone conclusion weeks before the first ballot was cast.
But with the completion of that formality, the two sides symbolically shook hands and the keys to the Lodge and the right to govern Australia were passed to Liberal leader Tony Abbott.
Retiring defence minister Steven Smith cast off any remaining campaign-style defiance as soon as voting stopped in the eastern states, declaring the election lost less than a minute later.
The ABC's veteran election analyst Antony Green, who has methodically plotted polling trends for two decades, got his money by trick at this poll. His job was done in less than an hour.
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Labor's plight became clear from the moment the very first figures flashed onto television screens.
Within half an hour the extent of the damage began to be revealed.
Even in the Labor stronghold of Tasmania the former government was on the nose, with even the seat of Lyons, held by the ALP's Dick Adams for 20 years, in danger of being lost.
In Queensland the story wasn't Labor leader Kevin Rudd, who will hold his seat, but the eccentric billionaire Clive Palmer.
The man who promised wealth for all is right in the race for the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax.
In a predictable election, Queensland is proving slightly unpredictable, resisting the swing against Labor more strongly than any other state.
Victoria, on the other hand, is shaping as a bonus for the coalition with an overall swing of more than five per cent.
But the Victorian swing is unlikely to be strong enough to dislodge Adam Bandt, the only Green in the lower house, who is defiantly clinging to the seat of Melbourne.
