Scott Morrison was campaigning well. Out on the trail it felt like the prime minister wasn't putting a foot wrong.

Bill Shorten had a lot of policy to explain, and a lot of voters he met hadn't even heard about the ones they would benefit from.

A couple of early stumbles from Shorten on his superannuation policies and the cost of his climate change plan allowed Morrison to pounce.

A week or so into the campaign the coalition started targeting a narrow path to victory. The plan was to hold what they had and pick up seats in Tasmania and NSW to offset any losses.

It worked.

Despite all the polling putting Shorten ahead nationally, Labor's vote dropped in NSW, Queensland and Tasmania.

Victoria was the only bright spot for Labor, but not enough.

Instead, scare campaigns the coalition rolled out hit home.

Labor's franking credits changes became a "retiree tax", even though it didn't hit many retirees.

The negative gearing changes became a "housing tax", allegedly hurting the middle class.

The over-65 vote abandoned Labor. Former Labor MP Graham Richardson said the double hit was too much on the hip pocket.

The polling companies also face questions.

"What it does show is that the era of opinion polls I think is over. They can't be trusted," Greens leader Richard Di Natale said.

Morrison's stunning victory will go down in party folklore.

"We lost the unloseable (election) in 1993 and we won the unwinnable in 2019," former Victorian Liberal party president Michael Kroger said.

Morrison now has to appoint a significantly-changed cabinet and figure out how to get his tax agenda through the new Senate.

Shorten quit the Labor leadership and Labor now faces a period of introspection.

Morrison now faces a similar situation to the leader he replaced. Malcolm Turnbull struggled with a tiny majority.

He might have a mandate, but as Turnbull found out, life isn't easy when the margins are so slim.

Australian Associated Press