General election voting has closed in Australia's populous eastern states, including the cities of Sydney and Melbourne, with two more hours of voting left on Saturday in Western Australia in what has been a closely fought race.

Unlike most countries including the US and UK, exit polls aren't big in Australia, mostly because early voting - which opens two weeks before the election - is common, and because polling stations across the country close at different times.

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia,