Australia's election

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison made a last-minute dash to north Queensland on Friday to back local candidates in key electorates.

The outcome in Queensland could be decided in a handful of marginal seats, where voter dissatisfaction and a crop of minor parties - some with extreme views - could disrupt the established order, writes Tim McDonald.

Between frames at a crowded bowling alley at Ayr in north Queensland, Peter Whelan says he's "sick" of the two major parties.

"One, they're just feathering their own nests. And two, they've been backstabbing each other," he says of the current government, adding that Labor are "going to rip us off like you wouldn't believe".

He picks up a ball and bowls a lousy frame, then declares that talking about politics put him off his game.

It's a neat summation of the electoral landscape in north Queensland, where voters are frustrated and the election seems an unwelcome intrusion into the real business of making a living.

A very tight race

Yet Queensland is hotly contested electoral turf. Of the 30 seats in this state, 12 are held by a small and very losable majority - eight of them are on margins of less than 2%.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-48306122