Thanks for joining us on the blog today — I mean, it would be pointless doing all this without readers, wouldn't it?

We're well and truly on the home stretch now, with just four days to go until the May 3 poll.

Join us bright and early tomorrow as we bring you the latest from the campaign trail, including Peter Dutton's blitz of Melbourne marginals and Anthony Albanese's address to the National Press Club.

Don't forget to check out the rest of today's online coverage at our Australia Votes page — or you can try out the ABC's Vote Compass tool, to see how your views align with those of the political parties clamouring for your vote.

Have a great evening.

If you're not familiar with Behind the News (BTN), I can't recommend it enough.

The long-running program (it's been going more or less non-stop since 1968) explains and unpacks the week's biggest news stories for kids aged 10 to 13.

If you're a millennial like me, you might remember watching it in school on one of these bad boys:

What I'm getting to is that BTN's special election episode is now available online.

It takes a look at the candidates vying to be prime minister, the role of the electoral commission, and why our voting age is currently 18 — as well as breaking down some key election lingo like electorates, houses and majority governments.

It's a great resource for explaining the election to kids, but if you've ever found yourself wondering about any of these things yourself, I can tell you there's no better way to wrap your head around the basics than to watch a BTN clip.

You can watch the full episode at the link above, but if you'd like an example of what I'm talking about, here's an explanation of preferential voting.

Australians are being targeted with misleading claims originating from bias or poorly constructed polls and surveys.

Not all polls are scientific or accurate. Sometimes, what politicians say about them is even less so.

ABC NEWS Verify takes a tour of some of the ways polling can influence or mislead voters, with questions you can ask yourself about polls to avoid getting fooled.

The Greens are calling on Labor to follow their lead in committing to reducing the government's spending on external consultants by 15 per cent each year over the next five years.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher yesterday revealed Labor's election policy costings, which included a claimed saving of $6.4 billion through the reduced use of consultants and labour hire.

The outsourcing of government work reached record levels under the Morrison government, which critics attributed to a cap on public service hiring.

Labor says about 12,000 of the extra 41,000 public servants it has added to the federal workforce since taking office were simply converting labour hire jobs to permanent positions, ultimately saving the taxpayer money.

However, the Greens say the government hasn't followed through on its accompanying promise to slash spending on consultants, pointing out the total spend in 2023-24 was $643 million, just $40 million less than the Morrison government's total in 2021-22.

"All this talk about getting rid of consultants from the public service is just a smoke screen for business as usual," Greens senator Barbara Pocock said this afternoon.

"There has been a reduction in contracts going to the Big four — PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and EY — but instead of bringing that work back into the public service, the government has simply outsourced nearly all of it to smaller consulting firms.

"... Government departments have become so reliant on the consulting industry that only mandated targets to reduce outsourcing will get the results needed."

With Peter Dutton landing in Melbourne just now, word on the street is the prime minister will be flying in to Canberra later tonight ahead of an address to the National Press Club tomorrow.

It will be the 11th time since he became Labor leader that Albanese has faced the Press Club — something Dutton is yet to do in his time as opposition leader, as Labor is fond of pointing out.

After a chaotic day disrupted by anti-nuclear protesters on the NSW South Coast, Peter Dutton has landed in Melbourne as he seeks to get his campaign back on track.

Tomorrow is likely to be a frenetic day, with visits to several key electorates the Liberal Party is targeting.

It will be interesting to see if Dutton campaigns in the seats of Kooyong or Goldstein — he is yet to visit either.

Kooyong is held by Monique Ryan on a margin of 2.2 per cent, and Goldstein is held by Zoe Daniel on a margin of 3.3 per cent.

Both electorates were previously flagged as key seats the opposition leader intends to visit in the campaign's final week — and with just three days to go, the clock is ticking.

Isabella Higgins explains what Vote Compass is telling us about young women and how they are feeling about the election and leaders' policies.

New Vote Compass data shows the majority of women under the age of 29 identify with the political left, creating a gap between them and their male peers.

Take a read of the full story below, and of course, if you would like to explore how your views compare to those of the parties and candidates, there's still some time left to complete the ABC's Vote Compass tool.

The Coalition has promised to plough more money into an Australian government fund to bolster Pacific infrastructure if it wins power at the federal election.

Shadow Foreign Minister David Coleman says the Coalition would lift the loan ceiling in the Australian Infrastructure Fin­ancing Facility (AIFFP) from $3 billion to $5 billion.

The AIFFP so far has issued only about $1 billion in loans, but the Coalition says lifting the ceiling would ensure Australia is in the strongest position to provide infrastructure funding across the region.

"Infrastructure financing has become yet another battleground for influence in our region," said Mr Coleman.

"Australia's financing supports infrastructure capability, jobs and better services for Pacific Island nations and their communities in a way that is both transparent, and in the interests of those communities."

The Coalition is also signalling it won't cut development assistance to the Pacific if it's elected on May 3 — although that doesn't necessarily mean it won't propose cuts to other parts of the aid budget when it hands down its election costings later this week.

ICYMI, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull appeared on Afternoon Briefing earlier to discuss the Canadian election.

He couldn't leave without getting in a dig at former factional foe Peter Dutton, however.

You can watch the video below.

Defence Minister Richard Marles says he's "completely comfortable" with the construction of new tugboats for the Australian Navy taking place in China, insisting the vessels will be primarily operated by civilians.

Earlier this month, the ABC revealed a Dutch company is using a Chinese shipyard to build the vessels under a $28 million contract.

The opposition says the situation is an example of shocking mismanagement, but the defence minister says he has no problems with the arrangement.

"We're very comfortable with the way in which the tugboats [are being constructed]," he says.

"Again, these are not navy vessels, they are going to be operated by civilian contractors — and given the task that they are required to perform, we are completely comfortable with the way in which they've been constructed."