Gillard bidding to hang on to power in too-close-to-call vote

Australians will today choose whether they will cut down their first woman prime minister after only two months in power and return to conservative rule in a cliffhanger election that threatens the survival of a first-term centre-left government.

Voters face a choice between a prime minister they did not elect and a fledgling opposition leader who barely gained the endorsement of his own party eight months ago.

Opinion polls point to a close contest between the ruling centre-left Labor Party and the conservative Liberal Party-led coalition.

Large regional variations in voter swings evident in most polls complicate forecasts of which side will win a majority in the 150-seat House of Representatives where parties form governments.

Both Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Liberal leader Tony Abbott ended their five-week election campaigns yesterday by warning voters their opponent's untested leadership threatened Australia's economy.

Australia scraped through the global financial crisis without falling into recession, although Mr Abbott has argued the government spent too much to keep a sluggish economy growing.

Ms Gillard, a Welsh-born child immigrant with a working-class accent, stunned Australians when she launched a sudden challenge to prime minister Kevin Rudd's leadership in June.

Mr Abbott, a 52-year-old former Roman Catholic seminarian whose socially conservative views alienate many women voters, said Ms Gillard's government does not deserve a second chance because it dumped the elected prime minister.

He said Mr Rudd was made a scapegoat for the government's wasteful economic stimulus spending that will next year see debt peak at AU$94 billion - or 6 per cent of gross domestic product.

"Elections are an opportunity for the people to pass judgment on the competence or otherwise of the government," Mr Abbott said. "Just as I expect the current government to be judged."

A government-commissioned report found numerous examples of poor value for the money in a program to provide every school in Australia with a new building.

Abbott is his party's third choice as leader since prime minister John Howard led it to defeat in 2007. He has long had a reputation as a gaffe-prone fitness enthusiast who is often lampooned in the media over the many images of him clad in sports gear.