The starter gun has been fired on a 41-day election campaign that will take Australians to the polls on May 21, with both leaders outlining their pitch to voters.
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Scott Morrison became the first prime minister to make two trips to the governor-general's house since John Howard on Sunday, asking David Hurley to dissolve the 46th parliament and sending 151 lower house and 40 Senate seats to the polls.
Shortly after at Parliament House, Mr Morrison implored Australians not to look backwards, saying the election isn't a referendum on how his government handled the pandemic but a choice about the future.
"I get that people are tired of politics but this election and this campaign is incredibly important because there is so much at stake for Australia and our future," he said.
"There is still a lot of uncertainty ahead.
"But I believe there are many, many opportunities there to be seized from the strong position we've put ourselves in as a country as we emerge strongly from this pandemic."
Mr Morrison admitted his government hadn't been perfect but contrasted its economic achievements and plans for the future against an untested opposition.
He said he headed a strong, experienced team that had demonstrated its ability to make difficult choices in tough times.
"(The) Labor opposition has been so focused on politics over these past few years that they still can't tell you what they do, who they are or what they believe in and what they stand for," he said.
"What we've demonstrated over these past three years is the ability to make those decisions that ensured Australia's recovery is leading the world."
Both leaders are tipped to start their campaigns in the nation's regions where marginal seats are up for grabs or need defending.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, already in central NSW when the prime minister made the trip to Canberra, hailed the country's export sector as the foundation of a strong economy.
"We know that (Resources Minister) Keith Pitt stands absolutely behind the coal sector, the iron ore sector," he said from his hometown Tamworth.
"(Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese) didn't talk - except through gritted teeth - about the resources industry and our second biggest export, coal."
Mr Albanese used his first campaign speech to spruik an optimistic future under Labor but underpinned it with rhetoric about a cynical Morrison government that has overseen stagnant wage growth and wasted public money.
"Fear can be a powerful emotion and I imagine there will be quite a bit over the next few weeks but I want to appeal to your sense of optimism and desire for a better future," he told reporters after the election was officially called.
"The problem for this government is they are treading water. What are their plans to create productivity? At the moment, we have an economy that isn't working for people. People know that, they are doing it really tough."
Mr Albanese said he would be a leader with integrity and respect, promising to establish an anti-corruption commission and bring down the cost of living while increasing wage growth.
"I say to my fellow Australians, this is our time," he said, channelling the successful 'It's time' slogan of former prime minister Gough Whitlam.
"Our time to seize the opportunities that are before us, our time to create a better future where no one is held back and no one is left behind."
Labor have only won an election from opposition three times since the end of World War II - Mr Whitlam in 1972, Bob Hawke in 1983 and Kevin Rudd in 2007.
The coalition hold 76 of 151 lower house seats and Labor 69. The opposition will need a net gain of seven seats to form a majority government if the new seat of Hawke in Victoria is considered a win.
Australian Associated Press
