SYDNEY — Voters converged on polling stations across Australia on Saturday to cast ballots in the country’s pivotal federal election, which has been dominated by discussion of Australia’s cost-of-living crisis, with the main candidates trotting out promises to ease financial pressure on households.
At the iconic Bondi Beach, voters queued as surfers dotted the swell against the backdrop of high-priced ocean-view properties. Bondi and the wealthy surrounding suburbs of Sydney’s east fall under the electorate of Wentworth, which was won by independent candidate Allegra Spender in the previous election. Spender is among a cohort of so-called teals, economically centrist but socially progressive, who have been successful in ousting conservatives from inner cities and metropolitan areas.
