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.

Identity politics is the root cause of Albo’s success

Albo is Karl Marx's executive chef. And it might just be the greatest challenge to our liberal democracy

In Australia, all aspects of our laws have been usurped by identity politics. Our courts, in my opinion, actively support it. This is not identity politics like Farmer’s Pride or the oldest bloke who feels like he’s losing his identity because he is no longer medically fit to hold a heavy licence. It’s the politics of grievance.

People can now declare themselves neurodiverse. It gives them an excuse for being an unreflective arsehole.

Albo can gaslight you because it’s the new normal, you bigot.

The reality is that identity politics helps the communist cause. Marx didn’t write recipes for tomorrow’s kitchens. But make no mistake, Albo is his executive chef in Australia.

Karl Marx popularised the idea that talent was a fluke of birth and therefore wealth should be distributed ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs’.

Equality of outcome and a focus on society as a whole would replace Mill’s equality of opportunity… pic.twitter.com/bGydldVtkr

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) August 11, 2026

Labor is not building anything. They are tearing society apart…

Albanese’s Labor are not building anything. Their communism brings us full circle back to anarchy.

Labor governments in Australia arose from the union movement and the Fabian tradition, but there has always been tension between the reformers and the radicals of the left. The reformers see government as a means of putting a human face on capitalism, whereas the radicals, or more appropriately, the communists, see government as the very problem with human society.

From Hobbes and his conservatism that saves us from anarchy to Locke and Mill and their liberalism, and to the Fabians and their reformist zeal, communism brings us full circle back to anarchy.

That’s where Albanese’s Labor Party is taking us. They’re not building anything. They’re tearing us apart.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

And what of Labor? Are they nation builders, or nation destroyers? I think we know the answer to that one, don’t we folks? Michael de Percy certainly does!

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Labor is not building anything. They are tearing society apart…

Labor has been in power for a long time now - what have they actually BUILT?

They've taxed. They've spent. They've dug us into nearly a trillion dollars of debt. They've expanded the public service. They've polished their Net Zero vanity.

But have they done anything useful FOR… pic.twitter.com/0BAmv5q9S0

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) August 9, 2026