CANBERRA: The vote count for Australia's tightly-contested Australian general election, the first since 2019, began shortly after polling closed on Saturday. People in some other parts of the country, particularly Western Australia, are still voting due to time differences while votes are tabulated across the country.

"Today Australians are making a big choice about their future," Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who cast his ballot in his seat of Cook, said in his final pitch to voters on Saturday.  "I want Australians' dreams to come true, and the best way to do that is to back them up, not tell them how to live and what to do, and put the government in their faces." His biggest opponent, Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese, who voted in Grayndler, said: "What is there to be proud of in this government, in my opinion?

"I want to alter the political landscape. I would like to change the way it works. I want the legislature to work correctly. I want our democratic system to work effectively. That is why I am here: not to change where I live, but to change the country, and that is exactly what I aim to accomplish.

The results should be available within hours. However, because of the record-high amount of postal votes, the Australian Electoral Commission has warned that declaring results in close contests may take longer.

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