General Election

Scott Morrison heads to the election as the first Prime Minister since John Howard, more than 14 years ago, to serve a full term as the nation's leader.

The man trying to stop him from securing the Coalition a fourth term is Labor's Anthony Albanese, a 26-year veteran of the federal parliament.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison

Once dubbed an accidental prime minister after coming to power in a leadership spill that toppled Malcolm Turnbull, Morrison has served a full term with largely no speculation about his leadership.

Pohiva is aiming to hold on to the Tongatapu No 1 seat he won in a by-election following the death of his father, former Prime Minister 'Akilisi Pohiva, two years ago.

He says historic calls made by King Tupou VI that cabinet ministers and MPs weren't doing their job will lead many new MPs in the legislature and impact on the election. However he remains confident in retaining his own seat.

"I do not think it will have that impact on me. I can still count myself as a new boy, and I thought I had done my part really well.

The date was confirmed by the Election Supervisor Pita Vuki.

Vuki said a writ of election has been issued from his Majesty King Tupou VI last Thursday (September 2).

It came 14 days before the dissolution of Parliament next Thursday (September 16).

The nomination of candidates to vie for the 17 seats of the Legislative Assembly’s People representatives will be held for two days from September 27-September 28.

The electoral roll registration will be published next Thursday,16  September.

Meanwhile voter registration continues.

PM Scott Morrison says he has united his conservative government in the nine months since he replaced Malcolm Turnbull.

Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten has pressed his case with stark policy alternatives.

Australia has mandatory voting and a record 16.4 million enrolled voters.

The nation holds elections every three years, but no prime minister has succeeded in serving a full term since 2007.

The centrist Blue and White alliance of former military chief Benny Gantz was projected to win 36 or 37 seats, with the Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 33 to 36.

Both men have claimed victory.

Two exit polls predicted that right-wing parties allied to Mr Netanyahu were more likely to be able to form a governing coalition.

But a third exit poll predicted that the bloc would be tied with centre-left parties allied to Mr Gantz.

Polls opened at 7am in Solomon Islands for the National General Election.

There are 333 candidates contesting 50 seats in parliament and over 350,000 registered voters.

The Electoral Commission said everything was in place for the ballot but it said voters should make sure they attended the correct polling stations.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday night, the police commissioner, Matthew Varley, urged Solomon Islanders to behave responsibly and vote wisely.

Some 59,000 people have registered to vote in the general election, including on the supplementary roll.

There are 86 candidates contesting the 17 People's Representatives seats in parliament. Nine nobles representatives will also be elected.

Announcing the date this afternoon, Mr English said National will take nothing for granted in its campaign and that the economy was always the central election issue.

The PM was not ruling out working with NZ First after the 2017 election, but said it was "unlikely".

He said his preference was to continue working with current partners - Act, United Future and the Māori Party.

"Together our parties have provided a stable and successful government at a time of great uncertainty in many parts of the world," said Mr English.