The latest Newspoll indicates Labor would win the federal election, snagging 12 seats from the Liberals.

Dr Martin Drum, senior lecturer in politics and international relations at Notre Dame University, said on both sides there was a sense it would be close.

“[The government would] certainly be taken it very seriously, I think that people inside the Coalition have thought this was going to be a close election all along,” he told 6PR Mornings.

He said the election would be either in March or early May, with fewer options.

In WA, he said Swan and Pearce are the two seats that both sides feel are “really in play”.

He said the most marginal seats for Labor to pick up in the election are in Queensland.

“There’s a swag of seats under five per cent in Queensland … so all of those will be in play.”

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