The 2022 federal election comes at an inflection point for Australia. COVID-19 is still claiming fifty lives a day and more Australians have died from the virus this year than in 2020 and 2021 combined. Extended lockdowns, while saving lives, have been extremely divisive: in 2021, widespread social anguish at the length of public health restrictions culminated in running street violence in central Melbourne. Much of southern Queensland and northern New South Wales then suffered devastating floods this summer. More distantly, the specter of global insecurity looms, as war returns to Europe and China expands its influence in the Pacific.

On the economic front, brisk employment growth combines with a nasty inflation spike. In particular, the rising cost of petrol, rent, and fresh food has driven a deterioration in living standards. Wages have not accelerated to match higher living costs: with wage growth of just 22 percent in the ten years, since March 2012, Australian workers have endured a lost decade of wage growth. Unsurprisingly, real wages are now negative. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank has raised interest rates, signaling the start of tighter monetary policy. This will hurt highly indebted homeowners in Australia’s frothy property market.

This is the context for the May 21 federal election, in which nearly 20 million voters across the continent will decide between reelecting the three-term Liberal-National government of Scott Morrison and giving Anthony Albanese’s opposition Labor Party a try. Many voters will also choose to vote for a chaotic assortment of minor-party and independent candidates, all spruiking for their chance to represent voters.