Thousands of people cast ballots in Australia’s general election
Thousands of people were casting their ballots in Australia’s general election on Saturday with high costs of living and a shortage of housing major issues in the campaign.
Authorities said 8.6 million ballots from Australia's 18.1 million registered voters had already been cast, but not counted, before Saturday since early and postal voting began on April 22.
Australia is among the few countries where voting is compulsory, a system that leans toward creating centrist governments. At the last election in 2022, 90% of eligible voters cast ballots.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party is seeking a second three-year term. His opponent, conservative opposition leader Peter Dutton, wants to become the first political leader to oust a first-term government since 1931, when Australians were reeling from the Great Depression.
The election is taking place against a backdrop of what both sides of politics describe as a cost of living crisis. Annual inflation peaked at 7.8% a year after Labor was elected in 2022.
Housing prices and rents have also soared as builders have gone broke because of inflation-absorbing profit margins.
(Source: AP)
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