Three-cornered contests

With the election two weeks away, voting opened on Monday following a poll in the The Sun-Herald newspaper that showed Labor leading the Coalition 51 to 49 per cent.

Small-party elections expert Glenn Drury said preferences would play a crucial role in the seats of Lismore, Ballina, Murray, Orange and Wagga Wagga, with three leading candidates each.

"Where preferences will make a difference is where that third contender is pulling in the mid 20s [per cent of the vote], not much less than that, and if the major party is somewhere in the 30s," he said.

Labor has preferenced the Shooters Party in two marginal Nationals-held seats: Upper Hunter and Murray. In Murray, the Nationals are favourites, although the Shooters party has a chance too, betting markets suggest. In the Upper Hunter the Labor Party is ahead of the Nationals and Shooters, according to Sportsbet.

In one of the state's closest contests, the huge Nationals-held outback seat of Barwon, the Labor Party has preferenced the Shooters Party fourth, behind an independent and the Greens, and the Nationals last.

A spokesman for the Shooters said it had not struck any deals with the Labor Party. "We're not preferencing anyone," he said.

If the election produces a hung parliament, which polls suggest is possible, the Coalition and Labor would be forced to negotiate with Greens, Shooters or independents to form government.


More minor parties

In an attempt to win a second seat in the Legislative Council, the Animal Justice Party has negotiated to be placed third on the Labor Party's preference list for the upper house.

"Like every other party, everybody talks to everybody," a spokeswoman for the animal-welfare party said. "We have been talking to Labor and allocated some to Labor, Greens, and in some seats no one."

The Coalition's six-seat majority would be lost by a swing of about 3.5 per cent.

Another minor party trying to break into the NSW Parliament is One Nation, which is led in NSW by former Labor leader Mark Latham.

On Monday, after appearing on Sixty Minutes with party founder Pauline Hanson, Mr Latham said applicants for Indigenous benefits should undergo DNA testing to confirm their racial heritage.

"Everybody hates a welfare rorter, especially in Aboriginal affairs," One Nation's policy says.

A gift from Jones


A Newspoll published Monday showed support for the far-right party in NSW at 8 per cent, a level that would easily secure Mr Latham an upper house seat and give his party a shot at a second, Mr Drury said.

Election disclosures indicated that radio broadcaster Alan Jones had recently donated $10,000 to One Nation. A promise by the Labor Party to sack Mr Jones and other directors from the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust dominated the campaign last week.

On Monday, Premier Gladys Berejiklian campaigned with Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the seat of East Hills, which the Liberal Party is concerned about losing. She promoted a plan to make childcare available across the state in primary schools before and after classes.

In the Liberal-held seat of Penrith, Mr Daley promised to hire 5065 teachers to replace retiring teachers and cover an influx of students.