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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