Regional Australians are being promised better mobile coverage, new education hubs and more heartily-funded hospitals, as the election campaign steps outside the major cities.
Both Scott Morrison and his Labor rival Bill Shorten will vie for the affections of regional voters on Tuesday.
The prime minister has focused his pitch on mobile coverage and educational opportunities, vowing to eliminate one million square kilometres worth of "mobile blackspots", where coverage is poor or simply doesn't exist, by 2025.
Mr Morrison is also pledging to spend $15 million on five new regional study hubs, which support university students studying by distance, helping them to remain in their local communities.
A program aimed at inspiring young people in regional areas to aim high in life will receive $2 million.
An intersection in the Victorian seat of Indi is also in the box seat for a $64 million upgrade.
Liberal candidate Steve Martin is trying to reclaim the electorate, which has been held by outgoing independent Cathy McGowan since 2013, against Ms McGowan's chosen successor Helen Haines.
Labor is continuing its focus on hospital funding, with a regional flair.
The opposition is releasing data on Tuesday it says shows almost a third of the $2.8 billion "cut" from hospitals in recent years hit regional areas.
The opposition's argument about hospital funding is based on the coalition increasing the amount of money flowing at a slower rate than what the previous Labor government promised before it lost power in 2013.
It says this means regional public hospitals will be $900 million worse off over the next six years than they would have had Labor kept power.
Mr Shorten promising to restore this level of funding if he wins the May 18 election.
The regional commitments come after both leaders had the chance to spruik their wares in one-on-one television appearances on Monday evening.
Mr Morrison stressed that he would maintain control of the Liberal Party's policy direction if Australians return him as prime minister.
The prime minister expressed the sentiment when asked whether climate change sceptics in the coalition and those who voted against same-sex marriage, or its more mainstream MPs, would have the upper hand in making policies if he wins the election.
"I will," he told ABC's 7:30 on Monday, refusing to grant an advantage to either.
Mr Shorten, however, promised to be a leader who consulted and listened widely and drew on good ideas no matter what their source.
"What we're not going to be as a government is a government who says that the world is too hard, tell everyone you don't need to change or do anything. This nation needs real change," he told ABC's Q&A.
The Reserve Bank's monthly board meeting on Tuesday will also be the most closely followed in nearly three years, with the chance of a cash rate cut suddenly looking very realistic.
Nearly all observers are agreed the central bank will act soon after last month's official data showed inflation slowed to zero in the March quarter.
Australian Associated Press
