Voters in the Australian State of Victoria expected to reelect the Andrews Labour government

Voters in Australia’s second most populous state of Victoria are likely to return the centre-left Labor Party to government for another four-year term today.

The opposition Liberal Party has trailed in the polls for much of the past four years. Its popularity was dealt a further blow in August when the federal Liberal Party held a party-room vote and ousted centrist Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Meanwhile, Victoria’s Labor Premier Daniel Andrews has promised to ramp up infrastructure investment if re-elected. Mr Andrews has announced his government would pursue a new rail project worth some $50 billion over the next three decades.

Along with other mooted interstate rail projects, the Victorian proposal provides a tantalising prospect for construction firms. A boom in infrastructure construction and the resultant increase in demand for workers and engineers could also tighten the labour market over the medium-term, increasing costs but also pushing up stubbornly low wages.

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