Scott Morrison is talking down his chances of staging a surprise victory as Australians prepare to vote in the federal election.
But the prime minister is giving himself props for bringing the coalition in from the political cold.
The race is expected to come down to the wire on Saturday after narrowing over the five-week campaign.
On the eve of polling day, Mr Morrison wanted to manage expectations of pulling off an upset win.
"This will be the closest election we've seen in many, many years," he told reporters in north Queensland on Friday.
"I mean, I don't think anyone who has been following me around the country for these last five weeks, five weeks ago thought this is where the election would be the day before."
As he seeks re-election eight months into the top job, Mr Morrison is making no apologies for the instability that has crippled the coalition for the past six years.
And he continues to duck questions about whether he will stay on as Liberal leader - or quit politics altogether - if he falls short.
But he did question whether Labor could claim a mandate for its own policies should it fail to win a majority, raising the prospect of a hung parliament.
"I see Labor is talking about minority governments now - that's certainly not what they were talking about before," Mr Morrison said.
"What that would mean is Bill Shorten would not have convinced Australians about what he has been saying, which is that his view is that Australians should be taxed more, so he can spend more.
"I don't believe Australians see that as the right choice."
The prime minister hedged his bets during the final day of electioneering.
He launched an attack in Labor territory and sought to defend several coalition seats under threat.
Mr Morrison wanted to play to his perceived campaign strengths, attacking Labor's tax plans and promising to help more young people into the property market.
There were no surprises when he started the campaign day in Townsville, which lies within the most marginal seat in the country.
Labor holds Herbert by 0.02 per cent and the coalition strongly fancies its chances of scooping the seat.
Mr Morrison later fronted a seniors forum in the central Queensland seat of Flynn, where the coalition's Ken O'Dowd is in danger of being toppled.
The prime minister raised some eyebrows after touching down in Cairns.
Long-serving coalition MP Warren Entsch holds the local electorate of Leichhardt by a fairly comfortable buffer of 3.9 per cent.
But Labor is trying to snatch the seat from the former crocodile hunter.
"It says that I take nothing for granted anywhere in the country, and it says that I love Entschy," Mr Morrison said, when asked why he was in the seat so late in the campaign.
The prime minister wrapped up the final campaign day in the southern NSW seat of Gilmore, where his hand-picked Liberal candidate Warren Mundine has a slim chance of entering parliament.
Mr Morrison wants voters to view the election day contest as a choice between the coalition's strong economic management and Labor's "big taxing, big spending" agenda.
"You will be making that decision, not pollsters, not newspapers, not politicians."
Australian Associated Press
