Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten both decided to warm up for their first leaders debate by preaching to the party faithful rather than subjecting themselves to the daily quizzing from their respective travelling media packs.
The prime minister and his Labor rival are both jetting off to Perth for their first face-to-face confrontation of the campaign on Monday - the second will be in Brisbane on Friday.
They will also be acutely aware that Monday marks the start of early voting, which has increased in popularity with many at recent state elections opting to cast their ballots well ahead of election day.
On Sunday, Mr Morrison chose a Liberal Party rally to spruik his party's cap on immigration.
"If you believe in immigration being a key part of Australia's future, which I do, and my party does, then you're sure you have an immigration program which is sustainable," Mr Morrison told the rally on Sunday.
The 18,750 yearly humanitarian intake will remain, in a direct challenge to Labor's plans to gradually lift the humanitarian intake to 32,000 a year.
Mr Shorten addressed Labor supporters in Melbourne to announce a $4 billion childcare package and a $2.4 billion dental health plan for pensioners.
"From next July we will put more money back in the pockets of working Australian families," Mr Shorten said of his childcare plan that will affect almost a million families with some low-income households enjoying free child care.
The Labor leader was joined by his deputy Tanya Plibersek at the rally, who had earlier fired up the campaign by attacking the prime minister for running the dirtiest campaign she had ever seen in her 20 years of politics.
She said it was a desperate campaign, "full of lies about Labor's policies".
"The reason he's lying about our policies and disparaging Bill in this way is because he's got nothing positive to say," Ms Plibersek told ABC television on Sunday.
Liberal campaign spokesman Simon Birmingham hit back saying the Labor party was attempting to create smear and distraction from its plan for $387 billion in new taxes - a disputed figure compiled by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's office.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack went harder, saying he wouldn't take lectures from Ms Plibersek.
Dirty campaign or not, a new poll shows the coalition is now level on primary votes - up two points to match Labor's 37 per cent.
But while News Corps' YouGov/Galaxy poll of 1012 Australian voters shows support for the coalition up one point to 48 per cent on a two party preferred basis, it still trails Labor on 52 per cent three weeks out from the May 18 federal election.
The latest Newspoll is expected to be released later on Sunday.
The row over preference deals again raised its head.
The Liberal Party has repeatedly defended a preference deal it has struck with Clive Palmer ahead of the May 18 election but it has also come to light that Labor made informal approaches to the mining magnate and his United Australia Party.
Ms Plibersek played down the approach to Mr Palmer.
"Look, I don't think a couple of SMSs is what you'd call a formal negotiation," she said.
Taxpayers were forced to stump up $70 million owed to Queensland Nickel workers, a company owned by Mr Palmer that went into liquidation.
Government minister Alan Tudge said if Mr Palmer does owe people money he should pay them.
"That's his business," he told Sky News.
Australian Associated Press