The short answer is yes. COVID-19 has led to a surge in prepoll and postal voting as electors keep shy of public polling places on election days.

This, combined with the large number of people still going for "undecided", has laid the groundwork for a very unpredictable next few weeks.

It would be foolhardy to predict who will be living in the Lodge, and which party will be occupying the government benches, when Parliament resumes on June 7.

With candidates already wallpapering their electorates with postal vote applications and pre-poll voting due to start on May 9, the race is on to secure the support of the undecided cohort as quickly as possible.

It is unlikely, given the anticipated turnout of early and postal voters, either of the major parties will secure an election winning edge in the final days. That's why, after what was an admittedly underwhelming beginning to its campaign, it was so important for Labor to have made a good showing last week.

Some of the more jaded commentators have suggested having Mr Albanese on the bench for seven days reduces the chances of him making further mistakes and also allows some of the party's other strong performers (and possible future leadership contenders) to shine.

Mr Albanese's slim victory in the first debate would have been a morale booster for himself and Labor.

That said, the ALP has not had it all its own way. Last week's scare campaigns on Medicare and workplace relations will likely be met with the scepticism they deserve and the attacks on Katherine Deves, while vocal, are not the ground on which this election will be won and lost.

Labor has also failed to put forward a convincing argument that it would have handled the Solomons-China deal any better than the government.

It will be interesting, given neither the LNP or the ALP want to go hard on climate change, to see if that issue becomes more prominent this week and next.