Why thousands are queuing for hours in central Sydney to buy gold

ABC Bullion Sydney store manager Jordan Eliseo has had to extend trading hours and hire five extra staff in the last fortnight to keep up with demand. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Prakas buys a bit of gold every year, always on a Saturday, for the Hindu festival Diwali. This year, thousands of gold-hungry Australians and a record-breaking price surge got in the way.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he says. “Maybe I’ll just buy a smaller version … if I can’t afford [it] … just to fulfil the tradition.”