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BY PAWAN LUTHRA

he lasttwo years seemto have passedin astateof suspended animation- although things happenedaroundus, there was afeelingof beinga casualobserver of our ownactivity. Apandemic,one supposes,does dothat topeople; constantlockdowns addthedimension of GroundhogDay syndrome where we relivethesameday over andover.

As weend 2021 andstart 2022, one hopes, nay, prays, thatCOVIDis behind us. Butwith therecentemergenceofthe newvariant Omicron, one canonly wish that weare ableto keepat bay Pi, Rho andSigma, the next Greek alphabets earmarked forpossiblemutants of COVID-19.

Assuming wearefinally going to geta senseof normalcy, let's look atwhatto expectin 2022inAustralia andglobally.

Herearemysevenissuestolookoutfor:

1. Elections will dominatethe sound cloudinAustraliafor 1nost of theyear, withFederalelectionsto be called beforeMay. It will be a brutalfight betweenSeo-Mo andAlbo andone suspects it willnot bepretty.If the LaborParty caused astir with their 'Mediscare' campaign inthe 2016 elections, the Coalition hit backwith their retireetax scarecampaignin 2019. Iftheearly analysesare any indications, theIndianAustralian community in certainmarginalseats, especially in Western Sydney, can hold the key to theLodge.TheLiberals needto doubledown to winthem over - there's a fair bitof anger therein thecommunity.

2. Property prices are predictedto continuerising but notasstronglyas in 2020/21. Modest price increasesin 2022 willallowagradualslowdown in 2023. Theonly caveat to the priceincrease willbe if interest rates increase sharply, butin a Federal electionyear that will nothappen.

3. Thereturn of theinternational studentswillbe welcomed by universitiesandemployers who are facingstaffingissues. The debate on migration numbers will be rampedup asskillshortages continue to bite.

4. China willalso dominatethe front pages of newspapersin thecoming year,perhaps the comingdecade. For its part, China willfocus attention on