Polls Show Dead Heat as Australians Go to Polls Today : Election: Neither candidate seems well liked by voters, and the ailing economy may decide the outcome.

More than 10 million Australians are expected to vote today in a volatile national election that may see a conservative coalition overthrow Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s seven-year-old Labor government.

Polls this week showed the race closing to a virtual dead heat between Hawke, running for his fourth term as prime minister, and Andrew Peacock, leader of the Liberal-National opposition coalition.

The candidates, who one newspaper said have “the combined charisma of a wet salad sandwich,” have sparked more voter dissatisfaction than support. Neither candidate appears to be regarded highly by voters.

The five-week campaign for the balloting, which will also elect 188 members to both houses of the Federal Parliament, has focused almost entirely on the nation’s ailing economy.

Australians’ average incomes have fallen for the last four years, while personal tax rates are among the world’s highest. Bankruptcies and unemployment are up, and a record foreign debt is now the world’s fourth largest.

More important, in a sparsely populated, laid-back land where owning a home is considered a birthright, mortgage rates have soared to 18%, and commercial loans are a crippling 20%. The economy has slowed to negative growth for the first time since 1983.

Hoping that the sour economy will turn voters his way, the mercurial, acid-tongued opposition leader accuses Hawke of leading the nation of 16.5 million into a recession.

“It is despicable and it is a disgrace that our country, with our skills and education and work force, should be facing a recession,” Peacock, 51, tanned and in shirt-sleeves, told several thousand supporters at an outdoor rally Friday in Melbourne. “It’s time for a change.”

In a classic case of how life is different Down Under, Peacock’s Liberal Party is considered conservative. He has called for cuts in government spending, the introduction of a two-tier tax system and the use of child-care tax rebates to assist families.

The white-haired, courtly Hawke, 60, remains popular despite the economic woes and despite--or perhaps because of--appearing in tears on television to admit he had been unfaithful to his wife and that his daughter once was a heroin addict.

Hawke based his platform on increased spending on education, child care and scientific research. As the race tightened this week, however, he announced that interest rates will be lowered if he is reelected.

Australian elections are unique. For one thing, voting is compulsory for citizens over age 18. Under the law, registered voters who don’t cast ballots may be fined $15.

Moreover, voters must number candidates in order of preference on the ballot, rather than choosing just one. That way, if no one wins a majority outright, the second-preference votes are added on until someone gets 50%.

Because of the preferential voting, the minor parties, including several pro-environment groups, play a crucial role. In 1987, more than one-third of those elected to the House won only because they were voters’ second choices.

The system is so confusing that a half-million votes were ruled invalid in the 1987 election because bewildered citizens marred their ballots, according to the Australian Electoral Commission. Counting is so complicated that the commission says it will take from seven days to weeks for official results.

Whoever wins, foreign policy, including relations with the United States, is unlikely to change.

As usual, mud flew freely in the campaign. Peacock, who once called Hawke “a little crook,” accused him this week of having a “grubby, deceitful” record on racial issues. Hawke, in turn, said Peacock was a “souffle,” all style and no substance.