Candidate for the 2019 Australian election, from left to right: Scott Morrison, Bill Shorton, Richard Dinatale, Bob Carte
Voting for the federal parliament election in Australia is in full swing. The following set of charts shows you the key points that may affect the election results.
Who will be the leader?
Australia`s leaders have rotated frequently in recent years. More than five prime ministers have taken office since 2010.
Four of these prime minister swaps were caused by the fierce party coup, which influenced Australian politics.
The frequent change of leadership is likely to be the cause of a decline in democratic satisfaction in the polls.
What do voters think about when they vote? Among the countless questions, the following are the key issues.
High house prices but slowing salary growth
Although the days of "soaring" house prices in Australia seem to be over, buying a home is still a problem for many people, especially for urban residents.
Australia has a lot of unaffordable house-but why?
The real ratio of house prices to personal disposable income in Australia has soared over the past 40 years, according to a recent chart compiled by Jason Murphy (Jason Murphy), a economics family.
Fundamentally, Australia`s personal income has lagged behind the rise in house prices in recent years, especially since the millennium.
This is one of the main reasons experts call the election an intergenerational election.
Many young people are trying to make money to buy houses and are under pressure. Politicians are using new policies to win votes for young people, but they are also adjusting strategies to attract older Australians.
Although Australia`s economic is still envied by many countries, Australians do not necessarily feel their pockets keep pace with economic growth.
As shown in the figure below, salary growth is weak, which puts pressure on personal spending.
Voters are more concerned about climate change
Australia has just experienced its hottest summer on record. Extreme weather such as droughts, floods, jungle fires and cyclones is frequent.
In recent years, however, it has been a global trend that temperatures are above average.
Scientists say climate warming constitutes a huge threat for Australia`s species diversity, with the Great Barrier Reef most affected.
Over the past decade, Australian politics has divided views on climate policy, coal mining and renewable energy issues.
However, surveys show that Australians are increasingly concerned about climate change.
The issue of immigration has attracted attention
According to the most recent national census (2016), nearly half of Australians were born overseas or their parents were foreigners.
Since 2016, more than 180000 foreigners have emigrated to Australia each year.
As the population of Melbourne and Sydney continues to expand, calls to reduce the admission of immigrants are on the rise. As shown in the figure below, public opinion has also changed.
Australia admitted fewer immigrants between 2017 and 2018 than the previous year.
Who`s voting?
Australia`s population is mainly concentrated in the eastern states and coastal areas.
Measures to force voting ensure a high level of participation. In this election, 96.8 per cent of legitimate voters registered to vote, a record, meaning more than 16 million people registered to vote.
However, the turnout rate of aborigines in Australia is not high.
The Australian Election Commission said it was "not good enough", saying it was trying to increase the turnout of aborigines.
Community leaders often criticize politicians for not knowing enough about the problems of indigenous communities, such as reasons that are not conducive to their participation in the vote.
Who will win the election?
The result is about to be announced.
Polls in recent months have shown that the opposition party Labour Party, led by Bill Shorton, wants to overthrow the government of Scott Morrison, the current prime minister.
Finally, where can I buy sausages?
Eating democratic sausages on election day has become a tradition for many Australian voters.
Since many polling stations are located in schools, churches and community centers, polling stations everywhere have fund-raising stalls selling sausages, cakes and drinks.
A group of fans set up a website in 2013 to map the location of the barbecue stalls.
In 2016, they received reports documenting 1915 sausage stalls and 1162 cake stalls across Australia.
Will this record be broken today? We`ll see.
