Whoever wins Saturday’s Australian federal election will face an inescapable reality: the three pillars of the nation’s 30-year outperformance that gave rise to its "miracle economy” moniker are breaking down.
Rapid immigration, a surge in property wealth and China’s insatiable appetite for raw materials fueled a record stretch of developed world-beating growth. Now, the strains are setting in, leaving Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and center-right opposition leader Peter Dutton pitching contrasting visions to an electorate seeing its living standards go backwards.
It’s an election that’ll be decided in seats such as Sydney’s Bennelong, where a surge in immigrants has worsened a housing crisis; rural electorates like the coal region of the Hunter that’s now grappling with the energy transition; and voting districts including Melbourne’s Kooyong, where a loose grouping of independents has emerged as a third player in Australian politics.
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