Could a politician from Australia help usher in the far right in Italy?

Whether the far right occupies Rome's Palazzo Chigi after Sunday’s election could depend on a candidate based in Melbourne, Australia. Photograph: Remo Casilli/Reuters

There’s an election in Australia this Sunday and a small, yet passionate, group of voters across the country could determine who leads Italy. The Italian parliament has four overseas electorates, one of which is the vast Africa-Asia-Oceania-Antarctica (AAOA), home to some 250,000 voters who hold Italian passports. Australia is within its borders.

Italian electoral candidates have spent the past six weeks in Australia discussing healthcare, strong borders and the importance of cultural exchanges between the two countries, in an effort to win the votes of Italian-Australians.