SYDNEY (AFP) - Australians went to the polls in national elections tipped to see the conservative government of Prime Minister John Howard, a key US ally in Iraq, beat off a strong challenge from the center-left Labor Party.
Howard, 65, is seeking a fourth straight term in office and the final opinion polls published Saturday showed his Liberal-National coalition narrowly ahead of Labor and its young leader Mark Latham.
The six-week election campaign was fought largely over domestic issues dominated by Howard's successful stewardship of the economy through nearly a decade of robust growth, as well as education and health care.
Howard urged voters to stick with his government and its proven record of maintaining economic prosperity rather than gamble on Latham's untested leadership.
Latham, a 43-year-old Labor activist from the working class suburbs of Sydney, took over a demoralised Labor Party just 10 months ago and succeeded in setting the agenda for much of the election campaign.
He focussed on reviving a troubled public health system and easing financial pressures on "middle Australia" families he says have been neglected by Howard's government.
The two sides each made billions of dollars in campaign spending promises on everything from saving ancient forests from logging on the island state of Tasmania to providing improved care for the elderly and boosting counter-terrorism cooperation with regional neighbors.
Howard's controversial alliance with Washington in the war in Iraq and the threat of international terrorism were a campaign subtext which drew worldwide attention to Australia during the campaign, but played only a minor role domestically.
A recent opinion poll found only 3.0 percent of voters mentioned Australia's role in Iraq under Howard and a Latham pledge to withdraw the nation's troops from Iraq if he wins as an important election issue.
With 13 million Australians voting Saturday, Labor needs to win 12 seats in the 150-member House of Representatives from Howard's coalition to take power outright and bring an end to the conservatives' eight years in office.
Howard could lose power if his coalition drops eight seats, given the presence of independents and minor parties likely to ally with Labor in a new legislature.
A final Newspoll survey released overnight put Howard's coalition and Labor in a dead heat at 50 percent support each on a two-party basis -- once votes for minor parties are redistributed under Australia's complex preferential voting system.
It was the first poll to put the two main parties dead even, but the survey also showed the coalition with a narrow lead in key marginal seats which will decide the election outcome.
A second, ACNielsen poll gave the conservatives an eight point lead, the biggest of the campaign, but government pollsters dismissed the survey as a statistical blip.
In addition to electing a new House of Representatives, voters are choosing 40 members in the 76-seat upper house Senate, where Labor and its allies are expected to maintain their majority.
In their final remarks of the campaign, both Howard and Latham said the contest would be close.
"We're vulnerable simply because we have a majority of only eight seats," Howard said. "This election is tight."
Latham admitted his Labor party were not favorites.
"The opinion polls show that we're the underdog, forecasts and commentary says much the same thing," he acknowledged.
"My final message to the Australian people is that we need a family-friendly government in Canberra."