After months of unofficial campaigning Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called the election and Australia will head to the polls on May 21.

The announcement gives the coalition six weeks to convince voters to return them for a fourth term, or the opposition to have their first shot at running the country in nearly a decade.

Last week polling by these mastheads showed opposition leader Anthony Albanese as the preferred Prime Minister for the first time, firmly placing Scott Morrison on the back foot going into this year’s election.

Today on Please Explain, senior economics correspondent Shane Wright joins Nathanael Cooper to look at today’s announcement and what is sure to be a fascinating election campaign.