Recent opinion polls have put the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Anthony Albanese ahead of the Liberal Party of Australia led by incumbent PM Scott Morrison.
Millions of Australians are expected to cast their votes in person over the next two weeks at over 500 early-voting centres nationwide.
China has recently signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, a tiny Pacific state close to Australia, angering the Western alliance.
Opposition Australian Labor Party criticises Prime Minister Scott Morrison for failing to set up a federal integrity commission, claiming governing conservative coalition has "integrity problems".
On the first day of campaigning, polls show Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Liberal-National Party coalition could lose 10 seats to the opposition's centre-left Labor Party.
Analysts have pointed to cost of living pressures, in the wake of the pandemic and rising oil prices caused by the Ukraine conflict, as a dominant issue in the upcoming elections.
The deal cuts tariffs on more than 85 percent of Australian exports to India, as the two countries gear up for negotiations on a full trade pact amid hopes that it would be signed by the end of the year.
Australian PM Morrison says China warship fired laser at its patrol plane is an act of "intimidation."
Two prominent campaigners against sexual harassment criticised Scott Morrison's leadership and asked leaders to take full responsibility for their own failings.
In a leaked message, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, who heads the junior partner in Morrison's coalition government, said last year that he had never trusted Morrison.
Protesters at rallies across the country demanded that January 26 should be considered "Invasion Day."
Sexual harassment and bullying are rife in Australia's parliament, affecting both lawmakers and staff, a high-profile inquiry into the institution's "sexist culture" has found.
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