Last opinion poll before Aust'n election shows result "on a knife's edge"

Australia's federal election is on a knife's edge, with the last opinion poll before Australians head to the voting booths revealing that, after preferences, the coalition and the Labor opposition both have 50 percent support.

The Fairfax-Ipsos poll, published on Friday just a day before the election, showed that Australia is yet again heading for a hung parliament, despite the coalition government holding a commanding lead in the primary vote.

The Turnbull government has support of 40 percent of Australian voters, while Labor has 33 percent, but after preferences Labor surges ahead to draw neck-and-neck with the coalition.

The poll also revealed that less than 20 percent of voters believe Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will win the election despite the fact about 50 percent intend to have Labor in as either their first or second preference.

Strikingly, the Fairfax poll showed 27 percent of voters remain intent on supporting Greens and other independent candidates, something which Turnbull said was a recipe for disaster.

The coalition's Leader of the House, Christopher Pyne, urged Australians to shun the Greens and independents in favor of a vote for the major parties, as voting independent would "cast (Australia) back to the darkness" of the minority Labor government in 2010.

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese agreed, but said he didn't expect voters to follow through with independent votes when polling stations open on Saturday.

"It doesn't mean that is the way they vote," Albanese said. "I think when people get in the poll booth they know they can have Bill Shorten or Malcolm Turnbull tomorrow night as prime minister. "

Both major party leaders were given crucial breakfast TV air time on Friday, in a last concerted push to win over the swing voters; Turnbull spruiked his history as a successful businessman, and told Australians he knows "what makes the economy hum."

He said his party's policies, which include tax cut incentives for small and innovative businesses, would boost the nation's economy, as free trade deals -- such as those with China -- would provide boundless opportunity for Australian business.

"We have opened up some of the biggest markets in the world with our export trade deals," Turnbull told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Friday morning.

"We're promoting business and investment. We're encouraging employment and strong employment growth, particularly for women and were seeing most of the jobs created last year were for women. "

The prime minister said Labor actively opposed the China free trade agreement, and said it was "extraordinary" that Labor wants to "stand in the way" of global economic growth.

"I have to remind you the Labor party oppose one of those export deals, that has created jobs across the country, particularly in regional Australia, they oppose the China and Australia free trade agreement," Turnbull said.

Meanwhile, Shorten promised a Labor government would listen to and represent all Australians, and said he would fight to protect the nation's publicly funded universal health care scheme, Medicare

He said the Turnbull government was planning to privatize Medicare which would result in a more costly trip to the doctor for everyday Australians.

"There is nothing more important than the health of our fellow Australians. The Labor party believes in the healthcare of all Australians, and that's why we're defending Medicare," he said on Friday.

Labor has also promised to actively fight climate change and fund widespread education reform, while Shorten also said he would increase the humanitarian intake of refugees from Syria so they can resettle in Australia.

Shorten said his party would fight for a fair go for all Australians, and said Turnbull's talk of "unity" and a "stable" government was rubbish, considering Turnbull was considering taking money out of healthcare, education, and the National Disability Insurance Scheme 0 which Shorten said would affect "millions."

"There's a lot of discussion at the moment about stability, what I say is you cannot have stability when literally millions of Australians are missing out," he said.

Australians head to the polls on Saturday.

(APD)