Both countries' prime ministers - the Liberals' Scott Morrison and Labour's Jacinda Ardern - have been grappling with the pandemic, economic problems, and international security, and both are proven election winners. Incumbents always have an advantage of status and the ability to make decisions, but also have the mixed blessing of a track record to be judged on.
Both main opposition leaders - Labor's Anthony Albanese and National's Christopher Luxon - have yet to lead their countries, but there's a major difference. Australia's Labor Party leader is a former deputy prime minister and cabinet minister who has been an MP since 1996. Luxon's CV is heavily weighted towards his business career before his whirlwind rise in opposition politics since 2020.
In Australia's case, is this a stay-the-course election in difficult times or a time-for-a-change election in difficult times?
In Albanese on paper, Labor has a candidate like Joe Biden in 2020 who offers a mix of both long experience and change from the incumbent: potentially a safe passing of the baton.
Yet, he faces in Morrison a wily scrapper able to focus on favoured messages such as immigration and security, and with the ability to win close contests.
The two candidates faced off in a first debate on Wednesday night with Albanese attempting to narrow the status gap and present himself as a believable prime minister, referring to Morrison simply as "Scott".
Morrison pressured Albanese over boat asylum-seekers, which has returned to the news lately with the British Government's stated aim of processing would-be arrivals there in Rwanda.
Albanese performed solidly enough for the Sky News debate audience of swing voters to declare him the winner by 40 per cent to 35 per cent. That still left a sizeable number of undecided voters on the fence, which offers encouragement to minor parties.
The challenger had ground to make up after a stumbling opening of the campaign, which has been dominated by scaremongering.
For his part, Morrison gave opponents a free hit by saying he was "blessed" not to have children with disabilities. "Jenny and I have been blessed, we have two children who haven't had to go through that."
He also tried to suggest that Labor was soft on China - even though the Solomon Islands has just agreed to a security pact with Beijing.
"When it comes to standing up to China, they've criticised me for being too strong, I was called a racist for closing the borders, I was protecting Australia. What I don't understand is, when something of this significance takes place, why would you take China's side?"
Albanese called it a "slur" and the pact a "Pacific stuff-up".
There were questions to the candidates on policy issues of concern to voters including housing, health and climate.
Going forward, of interest in New Zealand will be how well Labor is able to prosecute the Coalition's record and Morrison's future plans. And whether policy discussion can be adequately heard above the din of attacks.
