Why news of the Pope's death could affect Dutton's chance at the election

And that's exactly what happened on Monday night as news of the Pope's death broke.

Pope Francis, who had been ill and spent just over a month in hospital in February and March this year, appeared to be on the mend, meeting with US Vice President JD Vance on Sunday.

By late on Monday Australian time, news broke from Rome that the Pope had died, setting off the process for selecting his replacement.

16,000 kilometres away in Orange, the news threw a spanner in the works for the Opposition Leader's campaign.

In the must-win seat of Calare covering the NSW Central West, a three cornered contest with the current MP Andrew Gee, who quit the Nationals over their stance on the Voice, up against the current Nationals' pick, former NSW MLC Sam Farraway and Climate 200 backed independent Kate Hook, Peter Dutton initially indicated campaigning would continue in a respectful manner but then later confirmed all activities would pause.

In contrast, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese early on said campaigning would pause for himself, however other frontbenchers were still out and about across the nation, driving the Labor campaign message.

The Nationals and the Greens continued as normal, the leaders acknowledging the news from Rome with condolence messages.

This left Dutton's travelling press pack in limbo, taking up much of an Orange cafe. Seeing the TV journalists conducting live crosses, locals stopping off for their morning coffee asked what all the fuss was about.

Later, it was confirmed Dutton would attend a church service in Sydney before knuckling down for final preparations for the evening's debate.

But what the change in plans did expose is how much election contests are shaped by the unexpected and the way parties respond.

MORE ELECTION NEWS:

Mr Albanese's delayed calling of the election due to Cyclone Alfred appeared to knock the wind out of the Liberals' sails, after the party was lengths ahead of Labor earlier in the year.

Similarly, this campaign will probably be most remembered by the intervention of another global leader. Trump's tariffs upended the economic narrative that incumbents struggle after a period of high inflation, with global market turmoil favouring a steady pair of hands.

With another week and a half to go, there's still time for another curve ball to upend this election contest.