Canberra: According to Al Jazeera, the nation’s major challenges center on housing, energy, and the economy, and Australians will have to make a significant decision this Saturday when they cast their ballots in a fiercely fought federal election.

In the campaign, the center-left Labour Party of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is only ahead of the conservative Liberal-National Coalition under Peter Dutton.

As of Wednesday, Albanese’s Labour Party was just ahead of Dutton’s alliance in the two-party preferred vote, according to YouGov opinion surveys. Al Jazeera predicts that Labour will receive 31.4% of the vote, while the Coalition will receive 31.1%.

It is anticipated that over 7,000 polling places would receive well over 18 million registered voters between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm today. Any person who is 18 years of age or older is required to vote, and if they do not, they will be fined USD 12.75. Australia conducts the election every three years using its preferential voting method.

Both main parties have made hurried attempts to influence voters as inflation and home affordability dominate the elections. With promises of tax cuts, student loan reductions, and assistance for house ownership, Albanese urged people to “keep building Australia’s future together.”

“Vote Labour today for 5% deposits for first home buyers,” Albanese said in a post she shared on X. Vote Labour to reduce all student loans by 20%. To reduce taxes, vote Labour. To continue creating Australia’s future together, vote Labour.

Dutton responded by promising a new national orientation and economic recovery, highlighting a strategy to “get our economy and our country back on track.”

“With your vote we will deliver a plan that gets our economy and our country back on track,” Dutton posted to X.

Notably, families all around the country are feeling the strain of growing costs. The Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates many times after inflation hit a peak of 7.8% in 2023, culminating in a high of 4.35 percent in November.

The biggest concern is still housing. The median cost of a home in Sydney is now USD 900,000, and a family must earn USD 180,000 per year to afford it. The city’s ranking as the second most expensive in the world exacerbates voters’ annoyance.

Additionally, citizens in Australia are increasingly urging lawmakers to take greater action to switch to sustainable energy, particularly among younger demographics. According to a 2023 study conducted by the independent group Energy Consumers Australia, over half of Australians between the ages of 18 and 34 support the country’s transition to renewable energy by 2030. Al Jazeera noted that, although all the main parties concur that the change is necessary, they disagree on how to go about implementing it.

His influence is also expected to affect Australia, just days after a Canadian election that was influenced by debates over who would be best suited to handle ties with US President Donald Trump.

The country’s foreign policy and relations with the US will likely also influence voters’ choices. Australians’ confidence in the United States has declined dramatically since Trump became the 47th president, according to a preview of the 2025 Lowy Institute Poll.

Sydney, Australia, is home to the independent, nonpartisan Lowy Institute, a think tank focused on international politics.

With just 36% of the population expressing any degree of faith, the survey, which was released on April 16, reveals that Australians’ confidence in the United States’ ability to behave responsibly has decreased by 20 points since 2024, marking a new low in the two-decade history of the Lowy Institute survey.

These results might influence voters’ evaluations of the candidates’ leadership abilities. Of those surveyed, 41% said Albanese would be better at managing Australian foreign policy, while 29% believed Dutton would be more capable.

Regarding who would be best at handling the relationship with the United States and President Trump, Australians are equally divided between Peter Dutton (35%) and Anthony Albanese (34%).

Additionally, according to the study, the majority of Australians (89%) oppose Trump’s ambitions to annex Greenland and his use of tariffs to coerce nations to abide by his demands (81%).

Seventy-four percent of Australians are against Trump’s efforts to reach an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine, and seventy-four percent are against the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.