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Australia will go to the polls on May 21, ending three tumultuous years for the economy, health of the nation and global security.

Scott Morrison announced the election date on Sunday after informing Governor-General David Hurley at Government House of his intention to dissolve parliament.

Mr Morrison is aiming to become the first incumbent prime minister to win two elections in a row since John Howard in 2004.

But Labor has been ahead in the polls consistently since June 2021, currently sitting on a two-party preferred vote of 55 per cent.

The government says Labor leader Anthony Albanese lacks the experience to run the country and has so far been playing a small-target pre-election campaign.

"Anthony Albanese has been curled up in a ball not wanting people to know who he was," government frontbencher Peter Dutton told the Nine Network.

"Having been in parliament for 20 years and watched governments of both persuasions, I don't believe the Labor government could have guided us through the last three years in which the coalition has."

Labor's Jason Clare says voters are sick of the "lies and incompetence" of a government that has been in power almost a decade.

"This is an old government. If they win this election they will have been in power for longer than (former Liberal prime minister) John Howard," Mr Clare said.

The coalition starts the race with 76 seats out of the 151-seat lower house, with Labor on 69 if the new seat of Hawke in Victoria is considered a win.

Forty seats in the upper house are in contention in a half-Senate election.

Both leaders are tipped to start their campaigns in regional parts of the nation where marginal seats are up for grabs or need defending.

There are concerns the campaigns could be derailed by COVID-19 but steps have been taken to minimise the chances of outbreaks.

Mr Morrison on Saturday released a video in which he points to the natural disasters that have hit the country, the unstable global security environment and the risks facing Australia's economy.

He says 40,000 Australians are alive because of how his government handled the COVID-19 pandemic, with 700,000 still in jobs because of the response to the economic fallout.

"This is why as we go into this next election, what's firing me up - we're actually in a really strong position," Mr Morrison says.

Mr Morrison also set an apologetic but committed tone in an opinion piece for News Corp papers on Sunday.

"Our government is not perfect. But we have been up front. You know what we stand for, you can see our record of delivery, and you can see our plan for the future," he wrote.

Mr Albanese also released a video on Saturday spruiking his "fully costed plan for a better future".

He introduces himself to voters and talks about his economics degree from Sydney University and six years as infrastructure minister.

"Growing up with a single mum, I know the value of a dollar and I know how hard it is to get ahead, " Mr Albanese says.

Labor also released an attack video, lampooning the prime minister's video message and declaring: "No more mistakes. No more excuses. No more Morrison".

Mr Albanese wrote an opinion piece in which he pledged to unite the nation.

"That's the approach behind Labor's election campaign - building a better future where no one is left behind and no one is held back," he wrote.

Mr Morrison kicked off his Sunday early, flying from Sydney to Canberra to visit the governor general after enjoying a curry dinner with his family in Sydney the previous evening.

Mr Albanese watched his beloved Rabbitohs beat the Dragons in the NRL.

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Image: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons / “Canberra (AU), Parliament House -- 2019 -- 1746” / CC BY-SA 4.0

Anthony Griffin believes St George Illawarra can still prove they are a force in 2022 despite being on the verge of their worst start to a season in 14 years.

With just one win from their opening five games, the Dragons will slip to 1-5 for the first time since 2008 if they suffer a fifth straight loss against Newcastle next Sunday.

The Dragons again struggled to complete against South Sydney in Saturday's 24-12 loss, making errors in eight of 14 sets after getting back to 10-6 down early in the second half.

After defeating the Warriors in round one, the Dragons were in a position to shock Penrith the following week before being comprehensively beaten by Cronulla, Parramatta and the Rabbitohs since.

"We're a good side but we're down on confidence and we have to keep going," coach Griffin said.

"We've just got to get ourselves into a position where we play a full 80 minutes and we earn a win. We had an opportunity to do that (against Souths).

"When we do that, we'll win three, four or five, but at the moment we're beating ourselves and learning some tough lessons.

"We're capable of beating anyone. We've just got ourselves into a position where we have to learn and when we do that we'll get what we deserve."

Griffin was adamant his side had shown signs of improvement against Souths, and were only guilty of shooting themselves in the foot in attack.

The Dragons will at least get Tyrell Fuimaono and Josh McGuire back from suspension against the Knights in Wollongong.

Griffin, however, indicated there will be no returns to the starting side for 19-year-old prodigies Tyrell Sloan and Junior Amone after two weeks out.

Fullback Sloan played reserve grade in the Dragons' NSW Cup win over the Rabbitohs on Saturday, while five-eighth Amone played 25 minutes off the bench in the NRL.

"It wasn't the positional change (that hurt against Souths), it was just straight errors," Griffin said.

"(Sloan) has responded really well. When the time is right and his form is right in those areas, he will get his chance.

"The thing with him and Junior is we put them in there last year straight out of the under-19s.

"They haven't played a lot of football against men other than the NRL and that is a credit to them.

"But I just want to make sure they learn and get the right education, and sometimes that's not in first grade."

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Three men have been charged after police raids in which $4.7 million cash, five kilos of drugs and cryptocurrency teller machines were allegedly seized in NSW.

Two men - aged 34 and 39 - were arrested near a unit block in Mascot on Friday as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering.

Police say a search of the pair found $120,000 in cash on the younger man and $51,500 in cash on the older man along with 13 envelopes containing illicit drugs believed to be cocaine, heroin and methylamphetamine.

A third man, aged 45, was arrested later on Friday as police raided two units in Mascot and a storage unit in Kingsgrove.

Police say their raids uncovered $4.7 million in cash, money counters, mobile phones, laptops, USB storage devices and three cryptocurrency automatic teller machines.

There was also about allegedly 5kg of prohibited drugs including heroin, methylamphetamine and cocaine believed to have been illegally imported into Australia

The three men were taken to Mascot Police Station, where the 34-year-old was charged with dealing with proceeds of crime and money laundering.

He was granted conditional bail to appear at the Downing Centre Local Court on Monday.

The 39-year-old was charged with 12 offences including three counts of supplying prohibited drugs (commercial quantity), three counts of supplying prohibited drugs (indictable quantity), four counts of knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime.

He was refused bail in the Central Local Court on Saturday and remanded to appear in the same court on 2 June..

The 45-year-old man was charged with knowingly dealing in the proceeds of crime and supplying prohibited drugs and granted conditional bail, to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on May 6.

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Image: NSW Police Facebook