The One Nation of our discontent

The major parties do not grasp how deeply they are hated.

People are livid. This is no longer tall-poppy syndrome or healthy scepticism. They want the whole system burnt to the ground. For many, Roberts-Smith was doing his duty while the political class looked after itself, as it always does.

Anecdotes of women in their seventies living in cars after losing their houses are everywhere. Meanwhile politicians tell us to tighten our belts, or worse, take the roof racks off. Labor MPs film TikTok-style videos while people are weed-spraying, driving trucks, rouseabouting, working in cafés and cleaning. I did an eight-hour barista shift in a regional café last Sunday. It nearly killed me. I did harder things in the Army, but in my late fifties that shift was hell. Imagine a pollie lasting the distance.

The divide between ordinary Australians and the political class could not be greater. Politicians lecture us about what they stand for and then do the opposite. They may not all have lived by the skin of their teeth, but few have ever scrounged for durrie butts while properly down and out.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

There’s been a worrying spread of ‘might as well burn it down’ among the frustrated and exhausted ‘quiet Australians’. Once the unshakeable electoral base of the conservatives, these voters are struggling to find hope – even with the rise of One Nation. The notion that political parties can be reformed, saved, or even join forces into a workable coalition, is slipping further out of sight. And that’s a terrible thing for our future.

For those in the Coalition upper-ranks who like to snoop on my nightly writings, I urge you to read this article from Michael de Percy in a sober and calm fashion. Political parties must try to understand the political reality of their voters before it is too late. As I said to Michael when he filed this submission, it seems as if the ‘party’ and the ‘people’ have different native languages. They understand the words – but the jokes never hit because the proper context is missing.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

Michael de Percy makes a powerful point very succinctly. The major parties don’t realise, or understand, just how much voters hate them. Say no more.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, The One Nation of our discontent.