Shorten lunging towards finish

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten had a frantic marginal seat blitz across Sydney's west and south on the final day of the election campaign.

Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten

Bill Shorten will make a last-ditch pitch to voters on a multiple marginal seat blitz of Sydney. (AAP)

Bill Shorten has spent the final day of the eight-week election campaign marathon "lunging with every inch of energy" towards the finish line.

The opposition leader embarked on a frantic marginal seat blitz across Sydney's west and south.

While three opinion polls on Friday point to an election too close to call, strategists on both camps agree Labor will come up short of the 4.5 per cent swing and the 19 seats it needs to win government.

Mr Shorten had an early start in Martin Place, declaring there was 24 hours to save Medicare, at a rally of some 90 Labor supporters and unionists, in front of his campaign bus.

"You can either have Malcolm Turnbull or Medicare but you can't have both," he said.

Mr Shorten then headed to the seat of Parramatta to sandbag for Labor MP Julie Owens.

At Northcott, a disability services provider, Mr Shorten hailed the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme which begins on Friday.

"I want to be prime minister of Australia but something I want as much, if not even more, is to see the National Disability Insurance Scheme rolled out," Mr Shorten said.

He met bride-to-be Olivia Princi, 21, who has Spina Bifida and a wheelchair, and heard about her dream to move into her own home and start life as an adult because of the independence she'll gain from the NDIS.

As a parliamentary secretary for disabilities in the Rudd government, Mr Shorten helped make the scheme a reality along with colleague Jenny Macklin.

Health costs were back on Mr Shorten's agenda when he visited Tharawal, an Aboriginal health clinic in Campbelltown alongside Labor candidate for Macarthur Michael Freelander, a local paediatrician.

While Zayden Lett, 8, was having a hearing test, Mr Shorten said he had a million dollar smile.

Before his last press conference before poll day, Mr Shorten channelled Joh Bjelke-Petersen - feeding the chooks.

The Labor leader kindly brought out a tray of sandwiches and a fruit platter for the press pack.

Asked later what he'll miss about the campaign, Mr Shorten said "perhaps you guys" as the journalists laughed.

He played down claims his campaign has been damaged by the Victorian state government's dispute with the Country Fire Authority over a union deal.

An estimated 10,000 CFA volunteers are expected to descend on polling booths in key seats urging people to vote against Labor.

Asked if he felt like strangling Premier Daniel Andrews with a firefighters' hose, Mr Shorten acknowledged that the dispute was greatly frustrating, but was a state issue that would be resolved soon.

Mr Shorten later embarked on a street walk in Hurstville, on the border of Liberal marginal seats of Barton and Banks, with candidate Chris Gambian.

He posed for selfies with migrants, high-fived and bro-shaked school students.

Youngsters with coloured green hair Mya 7, and Enya 3.5, gave Mr Shorten a cuddle and wished him good luck for the election.

But there were plenty of shoppers who had no idea who the Labor leader was.

Mr Shorten is helping out at Rev. Bill Crews' Exodus Foundation, a soup kitchen for the homeless, on Friday night.


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Source: AAP


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Shorten lunging towards finish | SBS News