Watch the margins: competitive market forces have come to Australia’s rural electorates

Media coverage of rural electorates in the 2022 Australian election has given voters an expectation that competition will bring more attention and more promises. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

I once stayed in a city pub where the roof opened up as the obligatory afternoon Sydney storm rolled through. We scrambled to move our suitcase out of the torrent of water and went downstairs to see the manager.

He replied, without a hint of irony, “if you think your room is bad, you should see mine”.