Australia election 2022: Cost of living worries voters

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The cost of living in Australia is at a 21 year high.

Voters heading to the polls on Saturday will be concerned about rising prices.

Although not surging as high as in other countries at 5.1%, Australia's inflation rate is out of step with wage growth meaning people have less money in their pockets every month.

Almost everyone I meet in the suburb of Lakemba is worried about the rising cost of rent, food, fuel, and other essentials.

I am a single mom with two kids. Everything is very expensive when it comes to child care. Diana, who lives nearby, says that it is sometimes stressed out.

Summer Hamze is running a grocery shop on the main street. She tells me that many of her customers can not keep up with the price increases she has to pass on from her suppliers.

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The government needs to get inflation under control because it is out of control, she says.

Opinion is divided over how much can be done by the next government, given that inflation is largely being driven by market forces such as higher global shipping and energy prices.

One man says that it is in their hands because they know the economic factors.

One passer-by disagreed.

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Even if the government is changed, I don't think anyone will do anything.

In the middle of an election campaign for the first time in more than a decade, the Reserve Bank of Australia increased interest rates by 0.25 to 0.35% earlier this month.

Rates were held at historic lows in order to encourage Australians to keep spending. The economy is overheating and the RBA is trying to stop it. It is making borrowing more expensive.

The interest rate is expected to increase in the months ahead. 300,000 Australians could be in danger of default on their mortgages as repayments increase.

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Whoever wins the election at the weekend will have to navigate choppy economic waters.

Scott Morrison, the prime minister, whose centre-right coalition has been in power for almost a decade, has slammed his main challenger, Anthony Albanese, as a loose unit on the economy.

It is like he just opens his head and lets everything fall on the table. Mr Morrison said that that is not a way to run an economy.

The Australian economy was crying out for leadership and reform, but was not getting it from the current administration, according to Labor leader Anthony Albanese. The minimum wage needs to be increased to keep pace with inflation.

A recent analysis shows that reducing the cost-of-living is the top priority for the next government.

Many voters of various political persuasions were concerned about rising prices, according to Professor Nicholas Biddle from the Australian National University.

He says that this outranks all other major policy considerations.

Improving Australia's nursing home system for older people was one of the top priorities surveyed by the ANU.

Key economic decisions have been made by independent bodies, such as the RBA, which sets official interest rates, or by the demand and supply of goods and services, both in Australia and overseas.

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The national government's tax and spending policies have an influence on the economy. Jobs and businesses in Australia were protected by massive wage subsidies and otherStimulus measures during the worst days of the Pandemic.

With three-year parliamentary terms in Canberra, some academics argue that federal politicians can be distracted by almost constant electioneering and exaggerate their control over the economy.

Australia has a problem with its short parliaments, which means they are almost always in this cycle of gathering votes.

If a government is always worried about the political cycle, when do they have time to get things done? says a professor of economics at the University of Technology.

She says that there is a bit of claiming more ground than they can control.

Australia has a small economy that thrives on confidence.

Governments with vision are able to foster enterprise, innovation, and prosperity because they have individuals that collectively power an economy.

There is a lot of catching up to do in terms of growth, opportunity and government can set the pace, according to Peter Khoury from the NRMA.

Australian entrepreneurs and businesses will invest if there is confidence in the economy.

Australia will come out of Covid better than most countries. He adds that you don't want to miss that chance.

Australians will soon decide who they trust to help steer their country through the recovery for the next three years.