The crowds crammed into vantage points for Sydney Harbour's world renowned pyrotechnics and revellers around the nation saw in the new leap year with traditional glee. The night's festivities over, another year of uncertainty has dawned with hangovers from 2023 of extreme weather, cost-of-living woes, unaffordable housing and sovereignty conflicts. But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has at least said he was "hopeful and optimistic" about Australia's economic conditions in 2024. He pointed to falling inflation, jobs growth and wages increasing, and he flagged further cost of living relief measures for lower and middle income…
