Democracy, nationalism and the unfinished question of Palestine

In 1946, when Sir Isaac Isaacs published Palestine: Peace and Prosperity or War and Destruction?, the modern Middle East had not yet been born, but the parts that make up this central tragedy were already fully formed.

The state of Israel didn’t exist at this point: that arrived two years later, in 1948. The Nakba hadn’t occurred, the catastrophe where well over 700,000 Palestinians were displaced, concurrent with the ongoing destruction of Palestinian society, land and identity by the newly-created Israel. The United Nations was just one year old. And yet Isaacs, the former Governor–General of Australia, Chief Justice of the High Court, and one of the most eminent Jewish jurists in the English-speaking world at the time, believed that the most consequential moral and political failure of the coming era was already visible, even before the state of Israel had been created.

He wrote this publication during a time of extraordinary tension and global vulnerability, soon after World War II. The Jewish people of European had just endured a genocide committed on an industrial scale by Nazi Germany, and hundreds of thousands of survivors were displaced, stateless and traumatised. Sympathy for Zionism was widespread and, in many parts of the world, this was a natural instinct after the horrors of the war.

At the same time, Palestine—which was still under the British Mandate—was experiencing escalating violence between Jewish paramilitary groups, Arab nationalists and imperialists who were still keen to keep marking out their territorial boundaries and influence. Isaacs wrote this book not as a neutral observer, but as a deeply committed Jew, a democrat, and a constitutional thinker who believed that the path being pursued in Palestine would lead not to refuge and reconciliation, but to perpetual conflict. Eighty years later, Isaacs predictions have, more or less, come to fruition.

What makes this book remarkable is not just its historical position on the eve of Israel’s creation, but the nature of Isaacs’ dissent. Isaacs was not opposing Jewish immigration, humanitarian refuge or Jewish cultural life in Palestine; he was opposing something far more specific and, in his view, far more dangerous and sinister: the adaptation of Zionism into a project of political sovereignty defined by religion and ethnicity, and the attempt to create a state whose identity would inevitably subordinate one people to another.

In 1946, the arguments pushed forward by people such as Isaacs went against the flow of international opinion at the time. In 2026, however, it reads like a warning that was ignored and should have been listened to more closely.

Isaacs’ position has often been misunderstood, mischaracterised and, over the years, marginalised. He was not an anti-Zionist in the way that contemporary supporters of Israel and Zionism like to derogatorily point out. He was actually a supporter of what he referred to as religious and cultural Zionism, especially the development of Jewish life, learning and community in Palestine, and as a refuge for Jewish people fleeing persecution. What he solidly rejected was the ideological pursuits of Political Zionism, which sought to entrench Jewish dominance, implement demographic and social engineering, and place their constitutional rights above all other people.

His critique rests on three key principles.

The first principle is democracy, where Isaacs believed that a modern state could not be defined by a single religion or people, without betraying the democratic ideal that citizenship should rely on civic equality, rather than identity. To create a “Jewish state,” he argued, was to revive a form of church–state nationalism that Europe itself was trying to escape from and eradicate forever.

The second principle is justice to existing inhabitants, and the insistence that the Arab population of Palestine—Muslims and Christians alike—possessed moral and political rights that could not be rejected and removed by historical claims, religious texts or the historical crimes of Europe, especially those of Nazi Germany. A solution that required permanent subordination, demographic “swamping,” or coercion was, in his view, unjust by definition.

The third principle is the moral standing of Judaism. Perhaps most controversially, Isaacs argued that Political Zionism, by abandoning universalist ethics in favour of ethno-national power, risked damaging the honour and value of Judaism. He feared that a state built on exclusion and dominance of another group of people would not end anti-Semitism, but provoke new forms of it, while placing Jews everywhere in a position of moral and political vulnerability.

The arguments put forward by Isaacs weren’t marginal in 1946, and many prominent Jewish scholars, intellectuals, rabbis, jurists and organisations across Britain, the United States and Australia shared these views. What is remarkable about this book is the clarity with which he foresaw the long-term and disastrous consequences of rejecting compromise and equality.

Reading Isaacs after 1948—and after 2023

History didn’t follow Isaacs’ advice. Within two years—and several months before Isaacs died—Israel was declared a state, war quickly followed and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced. In the following decades, Israel consolidated itself as a powerful nation–state, while Palestinians remained stateless, occupied in Gaza and West Bank, or exiled. Over time, the conflict has hardened into a permanent feature of global politics—especially for the United States—which seems to be difficult to breakdown and resolve.

For many years, Isaacs’ warnings were treated as obsolete old-school thinking that had been superseded by the facts on the ground and realpolitik of the twentieth century. Yet the events of the early twenty-first century—a new realpolitik, especially since October 2023—are forcing us to re-assess all the assumptions that have been made historically about the Middle East. The Oslo process, commenced by Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat at the White House in 1993, has collapsed completely. The continuation of the occupation of Gaza and West Bank by Israel, the continuous expansion of illegal settlements and the endless cycle of violence, primarily committed by Israel, have raised many questions about democracy, equality and international law in Israel–Palestine.

The events of 2023–25, particularly the war in Gaza and the ensuing legal, moral and diplomatic crisis, have made it difficult to avoid those questions. Allegations of war crimes, debates over genocide—which, incidentally, are accusations that have been made by the United Nations—and unprecedented proceedings before international courts have brought Israel’s founding contradictions into the spotlight. At the same time, the many states that once proudly supported a “rules-based order” have struggled to reconcile their stated commitments to human rights, with their political alliances.

In this context, Isaacs’ book shouldn’t read just as a relic of something prehistoric that was written before the creation of the state of Israel—a state that he never actually got to see—but as an early and clear articulation of the dilemmas that remain unresolved to this day. His insistence that security cannot be built on permanent inequality, the suggestion that messianic nationalism rooted in exclusion corrodes democracy, and that moral authority matters as much as military power, speaks directly to the chaotic world of 2026.

Why this book still matters in 2026

This book is not offered as a definitive answer to the Israel–Palestine conflict—it sits at just over 17,000 words—nor is it an argument against Jewish self-determination per se. It’s a clear reminder that right from the very beginning, there were many principled and highly informed Jewish voices—as there are today—who warned that the choices that were about to be made by the international community in 1946 would lead to tragedy for both the Jewish people and Palestinians.

Isaacs believed that an alternative world for Israel and Palestine was possible, a future based on equality, equal citizenship and ideological restraint. Whether such a future remains within reach is an open question, as the voices that echo the sentiments of Isaacs are far softer in the global politics of today, and are far more difficult to find. What is no longer credible is the claim that no alternative was ever imagined, or that dissent was solely external, hostile or anti-Semitic.

To read Isaacs today is to confront an uncomfortable truth: many of the arguments now voiced in international forums, human rights reports and legal case were articulated clearly—by a Jewish former head of state—all the way back in 1946. That they were ignored, as they are today, doesn’t diminish the force of their arguments.

This edition is published not to settle the arguments of the past, but to shine a light on the events of the present day. In an era when unchecked nationalism is resurgent and fuelled by irresponsible and incompetent leaders who see themselves as demigods rather than keepers of the public good, when democracy is fragile and seemingly falling apart and international law is openly questioned, Isaacs’ voice invites readers to ask a question that remains painfully unresolved:

Can peace be built where equality is denied—and can a state founded in trauma afford to abandon justice?

Palestine: Peace and Prosperity or War and Destruction?
84 pages
Originally published in 1946. Released January 2026.

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Australia in 2025 was anything but ordinary.

From a bruising federal election campaign to the collapse of political norms in the US, from Gaza’s devastation to culture-war flashpoints at home, this was a year when power, truth and democracy itself were relentlessly tested.

The Monday Essays brings together the most incisive political writing from Eddy Jokovich and David Lewis, drawing on a year of analysis from the acclaimed New Politics podcast. These essays strip away the spin, challenge media orthodoxies, and expose the forces shaping Australian and global politics beneath the surface.

With clarity, urgency and moral conviction, Jokovich and Lewis examine the weaponisation of fear, the rise of authoritarianism, the failures of Western leadership over Palestine, the declining credibility of institutions, and the uneasy choices facing Australia as global power shifts accelerate.

Provocative and fearless, The Monday Essays is not neutral, and makes no apology for that. It is political writing as it should be: informed, engaged and unafraid to speak plainly.

For readers who want to understand what really happened in Australian politics in 2025 – and why it mattered – this book is an indispensable record.

The Monday Essays: Selected writings from the year in Australian politics.
386 pages
Released December 2025.

Paperback copies can be purchased from Amazon Australia for $AUD29.95, or from Booktopia.

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For decades, the world has turned away from the suffering of the Palestinian people. From 2023 through to 2025, that silence became complicity.

The Shadow Over Palestine reveals how Australia – a nation that helped found the United Nations and once prided itself on fairness and justice – became an echo chamber for power, lobbyists and media spin while Gaza was reduced to rubble.

Eddy Jokovich and David Lewis – journalists, political analysts and hosts of the acclaimed New Politics podcast – trace how Australian leaders, from Parliament to the press gallery, justified the indefensible. With clarity and courage, they expose the double standards that define Western responses to the war: the bans on language, the silencing of dissenting journalists, the performative outrage of politicians, and the quiet obedience to Washington and Tel Aviv.

Combining original reporting, historical context and moral insight, The Shadow Over Palestine documents a turning point in Australian political culture – a reckoning with truth, conscience, and the limits of alliance.

This is not only a story about Palestine: it’s a story about who we have become, and whether our democracy still has the courage to speak for the powerless.

The Shadow Over Palestine: Australian perspectives of the genocide in Gaza.
382 pages
Released December 2025.

Paperback copies can be purchased from Amazon Australia for $AUD32.99.

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A landslide. A reckoning. A warning.

The 2025 federal election didn’t just redraw the political map: it exposed the cracks in Australia’s democracy and demanded the country confront some hard truths. With Labor’s historic victory, the Liberal Party’s collapse, and the electorate’s disillusionment reaching breaking point, The Red Wave captures a seismic moment in modern Australian politics.

Eddy Jokovich and David Lewis dissect a campaign of extremes: a cautious Labor government clinging to competence over courage; a right-wing opposition embracing Trumpist tactics of fear, outrage and culture wars; and an electorate desperate for leadership but trapped between incrementalism and regression.

This is not just a postmortem of an election—it’s a compelling narrative about the end of one political era and the uncertain birth of another: can Labor use its mandate to transform the nation, or will it squander its moment in the sun? And is the Liberal Party finished as a national force—or is something more dangerous waiting in the wings?

Urgent, provocative, and essential reading—this is the definitive account of the 2025 election and what comes next.

The Red Wave: The New Politics review of the 2025 Australian federal election.
254 pages
Released 2025.

Paperback copies can be purchased from Amazon Australia for $AUD24.95.

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As the curtain falls on Anthony Albanese’s first term as Prime Minister, The Age of Disappointment takes a decisive look at a government adrift, an opposition mired in obstructionism, and a nation still yearning for leadership. During the year, the cracks in Australia’s two-party system widened, the decline of mainstream media accelerated, and public trust in institutions eroded further. What does this mean for the nation’s future?

From the timidity of the Labor Party and the existential crisis facing the Liberals, to the rise of independents and the challenges within the Australian Greens, The Age of Disappointment explores the shifting sands of Australian politics – the missed opportunities of the Albanese government, the cynicism of Peter Dutton’s opposition, and the public’s growing disconnection from traditional power structures.

Beyond Australia, the book examines the global zeitgeist reshaping Western democracies. It scrutinises the ramifications of Donald Trump’s re-election in the United States and the controversial support for Israel’s government, all set against the backdrop of an increasingly disillusioned electorate.

Provocative and incisive, The Age of Disappointment is an unflinching account of a critical year, one that may well define the next chapter of Australia’s political and cultural identity. Will the next year bring the bold solutions the nation craves – or more of the same disillusionment? This is the book every engaged citizen needs to read before the next election.

The Age of Disappointment: The review of the year in Australian politics
405 pages
Released 2024.

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Australia’s political landscape stands on the precipice of transformation. The need for comprehensive reform is palpable, driven by evolving societal values, demands for greater transparency, and a push towards inclusivity. Fixing Australian Politics: How to change the system of government outlines a multifaceted strategy to reshape Australian politics across various fronts—electoral systems, campaign finance, governance, media interaction, constitutional matters, and diversity in representation.

Many of the ideas presented in Fixing Australian Politics have been key discussion points in over 200 episodes of the New Politics podcast, as well as in many of our writings about these matters. It is crucial to document and consolidate these ideas into a single framework—this is the primary reason for why we have created this book. This will facilitate future debates and discussions, which can then provide governments and policymakers with a clear and concise pathway for improving governance in Australia.

We begin with electoral reform, advocating for the introduction of proportional representation to ensure that every vote contributes equally to the political outcome, mirroring a more democratic representation in parliament. Maintaining mandatory voting also remains crucial to preserving high voter turnout and ensuring that electoral results reflect the true will of the people. In addition, we also recommend the shift towards implementing online voting systems to modernise the voting process, making it more accessible and efficient while upholding the integrity of each vote.

Financial influences in politics demand urgent restructuring and this is an issue that had dogged Australian political affairs for far too long. The proposal for full public funding of elections seeks to curb the undue influence of wealthy donors and level the playing field for all candidates, and reducing donation caps and managing political donations in the public interest are steps designed to enhance the transparency of financial contributions and prevent corruption.

Further reforms are necessary to fortify the mechanisms that ensure politicians and public officials are held accountable. While the implementation of the National Corruption Against Corruption in 2023 was a belated and much needed reform, there needs to be tighter corruption measures, improved Freedom of Information legislation, and enhanced protection for whistleblowers and public informants to provide an environment of transparency and trust in government operations.

The governance of political parties also requires recalibration. Introducing term limits would prevent the entrenchment of power, encouraging fresh ideas and perspectives in leadership. Strengthening parliamentary committees and reforming Question Time to become a more effective tool for scrutinising government actions, rather than the current structure where the government of the day uses it to deflect, score political points and humiliate the opposition, are also critical for increasing accountability and enhancing the legislative process.

In an era of misinformation and disinformation, it is crucial to reinforce financial support for public media and advocate for truth in journalism to maintain an informed electorate. This effort should be accompanied by a reformed and more powerful Australian Press Council, which currently resembles a toothless tiger and often succumbs to the interests of mainstream media. Public media must be empowered to operate independently from government influence, providing balanced and comprehensive coverage of national affairs.

The call for a new Australian Constitution underscores the necessity to mirror contemporary values and the multicultural identity of the nation. The current Constitution, developed in the 1890s and implemented in 1901, was designed to unify the Australian colonies. However, this unification was inherently limited: Indigenous Australians and women were excluded from the constitutional conventions that led to federation. It was crafted by white men adorned with long beards, moustaches, and top hats—how can such a document remain relevant over 120 years later? Also, this Constitution has proven almost unchangeable, like an albatross around the nation’s neck. Out of 45 referendums aimed at modernising the Constitution to make it more relevant, only eight have been successful. This is a situation that is unsustainable. Recognising Indigenous Australians and their unique rights, alongside implementing an Australian republic, are also crucial steps toward honouring the country’s heritage and redefining its identity on the global stage.

Ensuring broader engagement in politics involves implementing quotas for underrepresented groups and improving youth engagement—lowering the voting age to 16 would be an excellent start—as would a range of issues to address the general disinterest in politics and strengthening civic education to cultivate a more politically aware and active citizenry.

We recognise that expecting all these changes to happen quickly is naïve. Over a quarter of a century has passed since the referendum on the republic was held and defeated in 1999, and today, the issue barely rates a mention in public discourse. Political reform in Australia is hampered by the structures and barriers of its own institutionalised system, and any change—if it occurs at all—moves at a glacial pace.

The Liberal–National Coalition refuses to consider any change at all and ramps up fear campaigns as a stalling tactic; while the Labor Party fears the changes that it should be advocated for, anxious it might offend the vested business and media interests who benefit most from the status quo. Change of any nature takes time, but initially, there must be political will. For far too long, Australia has lacked this essential ingredient for change.

This sweeping array of reforms contained in Fixing Australian Politics presents a bold blueprint for the future of Australian politics. By addressing these key areas, the aim is to create a more robust, inclusive, and transparent political system that is equipped to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century and reflect the diverse voices of all Australians, each of which is critical for the rejuvenation of the nation’s political framework and the restoration of public faith in the democratic process.

Fixing Australian Politics: How to change the system of government
208 pages
Released 2024.

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Thanks for supporting New Politics through your Substack subscription, and our latest book is provided to Substack paid subscribers as an extended 566-page FREE e-book, and is available for Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books and PDF file. Please download the format of your choice from the links at the end of this post (sorry, it’s only available for our paid subscribers).

And if you’d prefer the printed version of the book (446 pages), we are offering subscribers a 25% discount off the cover price from our online bookshop. All the details are at the end of this post.

“This enlightening exploration of Australia’s political landscape in 2023 uncovers a year that began with high hopes from the electorate, yet was marred by a series of unmet expectations and enduring challenges. The narrative captures critical moments in Australian politics, where the dawn of a Labor government, still finding its feet, promised a return to normalcy in public discourse and a “government run by adults”. This followed the years of intense political chaos from successive Coalition governments, which often proved to be a distraction from the real issues that needed attention and resolution in the public interest.

This in-depth analysis examines the Albanese government’s struggle to navigate a complex array of issues, covering topics from the contentious Voice to Parliament referendum and its subsequent defeat, to the persistent housing crisis, cost of living and environmental concerns, AUKUS and Palestine, guiding the reader through the intricate web of political and social dynamics that define contemporary Australia.

However, today’s problems are not solely caused by the current government: the narrative also sheds light on the enduring influence of previous administrations, highlighting how past policies and decisions continue to impact current governance.

Rising Phoenix, Falling Shadows is a compelling read for anyone interested in understanding the multifaceted nature of governance and public policy in Australia. It tells the story of a nation grappling with change, where political ambition often collides with reality, and the pursuit of progress is continually tested by the complexities of societal needs and global events.”

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A big thank you to our Substack audience, thanks for your support – and all the best for Christmas and 2023 and beyond.

Big news! We have released out new book, Diary of an Election Victory: Labor’s rise to power, 302 pages of action-packed political drama, starting off in early 2022 and going through the trials and tribulations of the election campaign, through to election night. No need for a spoiler alert: we all know how this story ends.

Substack readers can purchase the paperback and receive a 15% discount. Massive! Just go to the ‘Buy the book!’ link below, and enter SUBSTACK in the ‘Add coupon or gift card’ box at the shopping cart.

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And an extra treat: we’ve published the introduction chapter below, just to get you in the mood.

Introduction: Election night, 2022

It’s 7pm on election night, and a sense of unease had set in among those who were hopeful of a change in the direction of Australia after nine years of Liberal–National Coalition governments. It had been a hard-fought six-week election campaign, and it appeared that enough material had been provided to the electorate during this time to show that the Morrison government was one of more incompetent administrations to occupy the halls of power in Canberra and was unfit for office. Scandals plagued the government for most of this parliamentary term and many promises that were announced were either poorly delivered or not delivered at all. The prime minister, Scott Morrison, had poor approval ratings and his challenger, Anthony Albanese, had run a reasonable campaign, after some earlier mistakes and stumbles.

Yet, the first hour after the polling booths closed in the eastern states suggested that Morrison was tracking towards a second unlikely and narrow election victory, and for the Labor Party, there were shades of the deep disappointments from the 2019 federal election loss that started to seep in.

The counting from the first dozen or so seats was starting to roll in from the Australian Electoral Commission and, momentarily, it appeared that Morrison was going to claim another “miracle” victory. Rationality, fed by nervousness and despair, tried to take over. Surely, the polls were different this time; after getting it so wrong in 2019, pollsters had improved their methodologies, their algorithms, their demographic analysis.

Surely, after all the poor performances and dereliction of duty over the past three years, the Australian electorate wasn’t going to re-elect the Morrison government? Morrison surreptitiously taking his family on holidays to Hawaii during the 2019/20 bushfires disaster, reluctantly returning to Australia, only to arrive on the south coast of New South Wales where he was abused by the public and few people wanted to shake his hand. The ignorance of women’s issues; the debauchery of Australia’s parliament house, where an alleged rape was committed in a minister’s office; sex workers brought into the infamous prayer room for the pleasure of Coalition members of parliament. Corruption: land purchased in western Sydney from a Liberal Party donor for $30 million, even though the land was valued at $3 million. The poor vaccination delivery, the ongoing and meaningless culture wars. Surely it was time for a change?

Election night was tense. The patchwork of results that were starting to stream in created confusing and contradicting trends and even the ABC’s psephologist and election night analyst, Antony Green, was struggling to deal with what the early results meant. Due to Australia’s different time zones, polling booths in Western Australia didn’t close until 8pm eastern standard time, and while a clearer picture was slowly emerging by that time, the votes were still coming at a slow pace and questions were being raised about which key events had influenced the vote.

How were the vocal anti-government and Trump-style protests in Victoria going to affect the vote in that state, despite the popularity of premier Daniel Andrews? The Western Australia election in 2021 wiped out the Liberal Party, reducing it to two seats in a parliament of 59. Would there be any residual electoral feelings applied to the federal sphere, over twelve months later? The Morrison government teamed up with Clive Palmer in the attempts to end Western Australian border closures between 2020–22. How would this affect the vote in Western Australia?

Despite the worry trends that appeared in the first hour after polling booths closed, election night ended well for Labor and Albanese. As the night progressed, it become more evident the Coalition would not be in a position to form government, and the trends throughout the evening suggested that it was only a question of whether Labor would win an outright majority—albeit a slim majority—or run a minority government with the support of an enlarged crossbench.

But by 10pm, it was over. The early results from Western Australia showed a major swing against the Coalition government and loss of many seats, confirming the patchwork of results from New South Wales and Victoria and guaranteed an election victory for the Labor Party. Federal elections are usually decided by the time polling booths close in Western Australia—two hours behind the eastern states—but these results from the west validated Labor’s decision to launch its campaign in Perth and, for a change, Western Australia was the state that confirmed the election result.

The Morrison years had ended ignominiously. While there was some hope earlier in the evening, the result confirmed what opinion polls had been suggesting for some time: a narrow Labor victory, more independents in parliament, and a loss of many seats for the Liberal Party. The electorate voted for change and put their trust in Labor and Albanese as Australia’s thirty-first prime minister, to resolve the many issues which had banked up over the past nine years. It was a rare election victory for Labor—only in office for around a third of the time since Australia’s federation in 1901—and it was a win its supporters will savour for some time to come.

While there are many factors that influence an election result—there’s no doubt that the poor performance of Morrison and his government was the leading factor—there are key factors that not only influenced this campaign but will change the dynamics of Australian politics for the foreseeable future.

A move away from the major parties

The Liberal Party had its worst result in decades. The Labor Party had its lowest primary vote since 1934. The National Party was relatively stable, not losing a seat. The Australian Greens gained four seats in the House of Representatives and now, there’s the largest crossbench in Australia’s electoral history. These are remarkable results and signal that there is change occurring within the electorate: while the primary vote for major parties has declined over many years—in 1949, major parties achieved 96 per cent of the primary vote; in 2022, it was 70 per cent—this election significantly translated the gain in primary votes by minor parties and independents, into seats won.

The teal independents, funded primarily through Climate 200 and the grassroots ‘Voices Of’ campaign, were the main beneficiaries of the move away from major parties. Well-funded, articulate and very capable candidates ran successful campaigns in safe Liberal heartland seats in Kooyong, Goldstein, North Sydney, Wentworth, Mackellar and Curtin. Zali Steggall had already won Warringah in 2019 and further cemented her position in the seat, as did other independents loosely associated with the teal movement, Helen Haines, Rebekha Sharkie and Andrew Wilkie.

A declining mainstream media

Australian media is among the least diverse in the world, the vast majority of media outlets are owned or managed by four entities: News Corporation; Seven West Media; Nine Media and the Australian government, through outlets such as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the Special Broadcasting Service. News Corporation is owned by the Murdoch family; Seven West Media owned by Kerry Stokes, a mining magnate from Western Australia; Nine Media is a publicly listed conglomerate, operating with ex-Liberal Party treasurer Peter Costello as its chair. Network 10 is owned by Paramount Global: its interests and approaches are different to the other key players, but its influence is still there.

The mainstream media, including the ABC, ran a highly negative campaign against the Labor Party and a generally positive one towards the Coalition, extending this negativity towards the Australian Greens and teal independents. Despite this, Labor won the election. Following on from other recent state election results, where the media has generally directed its reportage against Labor governments, Labor easily won those elections and it’s clear that the mainstream media’s ability to influence election outcomes, is not as strong as it once was.

Lack of separation of church and state

Religion has played a role in Australian political discourse, but not to the extent it does in the United States, for example. The first Catholic elected to the prime ministership was Labor’s James Scullin in 1929. This did cause some controversy but had mostly died down within the first few months of his term. His successor, Joe Lyons, was also Catholic, but there were few objections, especially given his electoral success.

The Labor Party has split twice over proxy wars related to religion—in the conscription referenda of 1916 and 1917, Catholics tended to oppose military conscription, while Protestants tended to be supportive, and the narrow defeat of both referenda caused a split in the party and expulsion of prime minister Billy Hughes. The 1956 Labor split was primarily a debate between atheist Marxism and Catholic social justice but, essentially religion has not been at the forefront of Australia politics.

Many people in the electorate were probably unaware that during their periods in office, former prime ministers Bob Hawke, Julia Gillard, John Curtin and Ben Chifley were atheists, or that John Howard was Anglican, or that Paul Keating was Catholic. Aside from Howard, who reintroduced the Lord’s Prayer to commence parliamentary sittings, appointed an Anglican bishop to the position of governor-general, and referenced Australia as a society founded on the principles of Judeo–Christianity, there was few direct references to churches and religion. Scott Morrison changed that: he openly displayed his Pentecostalism, and his time as prime minister appeared to be strongly influenced by prosperity theology.

There was a problematic relationship with his mentor and leader of the Hillsong Church in Australia, Brian Houston, who was accused of covering up allegations of child sexual assault; his personal religious values seemed to influence his actions in government: development of personal wealth, indifference to asylum seekers, homophobia, abstaining from a vote on same-sex marriage legislation, sexism, hostility to recipients of social security payments, and a commitment to the Religious Discrimination Bill, which provided legal protections for churches and religious schools to discrimination against women and the LGBTQI+ community.

The Australian electorate doesn’t tend to care too much about the religion of any politician—it’s performance that matters the most—but there was a sense of unease of Morrison’s promotion of Pentecostalist beliefs, and behaviours such as the unwanted ‘laying of hands’ and praying for people. The schism between Morrison’s promotion as a man of religion and many of his ‘un-Christian’ behaviours as prime minister was too great a gap for many people to reconcile.

It wasn’t just Morrison

Australian elections are traditionally fought over 50 or so seats, once the more obvious safe seats that are never going to change hands, are excluded. That number, of course, has started to slowly shift, with more seats being contested by independent candidates and seats that were considered safe Liberal Party seats—such as Kooyong, North Sydney, Mackellar, Goldstein and Curtin, or safe Labor seats, such as Fowler—now lost to the major parties and they might be lost for some time to come.

While it’s expected that most of the focus will be on the leader of the party, there were many other problems within the Liberal Party, which poor candidate selection being one of them. In previous elections, the independent candidate Rebekha Sharkie twice defeated Georgina Downer, daughter of former Cabinet minister, Alexander Downer, in the safe seat of Mayo. Independent Cathy McGowan defeated Sophie Mirabella in the safe seat of Indi. Zali Steggall defeated Tony Abbott in the safe seat of Warringah. These were safely held seats by the Liberal Party and better candidates in these seats would have secured victories.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was a poor campaigner and was not closely engaged with the community in Kooyong. Other Liberal Party members such as Dan Tehan are also poor performers. Peter Dutton comes across as a brutal roughneck, but it is a public image that he has cultivated after many years as the minister for immigration, home affairs and defence. Senator Michaelia Cash is a performative irritant and public nuisance, who seems to revel in these irritations. Sussan Ley seemed uninterested and, even one of the better performers within the party, Senator Simon Birmingham, struggled with the more complex issues during the campaign.

Candidate selection is key for any party but it’s only possible to choose from the people who come forward. The Liberal Party has been overtaken by the hard-right members, and many of the moderates have been purged from the party. This is a tragedy, not only for the party, but the Australian political system. True liberalism isn’t a process of ‘win at all costs’, attacking the disadvantaged people in the community, supporting the wealth class, fearing the other, engaging in personal enrichment and enabling corruption that favours political donors. This is a major issue that will need to change for the party.

The Liberal Party has strayed too far away from its Menzian roots and has become an illiberal rump of hardline conservatism. While Morrison must take most of this blame—as the leader—a stronger Cabinet and party structure would have ameliorated his worst excesses in government and his ignorance of long-established parliamentary protocols and precedents.

Labor won, but did they underperform?

The Labor Party ran a patchy campaign, not helped by Anthony Albanese’s earlier mistakes on day one and contracting COVID in week three. The media’s hard-nosed campaign against Albanese also didn’t help—magnifying a day one ‘gaffe’ which ultimately turned out to be meaningless, and rendered irrelevant by Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt snapping ‘Google it, mate!’ when a journalist tried to catch him out with another ‘gotcha’ question on some arcane economic statistic.

Labor though, while it won enough seats in the House of Representatives to govern—77 seats—and has received very workable numbers in the Senate, underperformed. Given the poor performances by successive Coalition governments over the past nine years, the weak state of the economy, mismanagement of the pandemic, flaws in foreign affairs policy, and the general stench of corruption, Labor should have achieved a landslide victory.

Albanese played cautiously in this campaign, with no difficult policy announcements, no radical changes, preferring to focus on convincing the electorate that he was a ‘safe pair of hands’. It’s possible to see why Labor chose this course. The 2019 election campaign offered too many targets for the Coalition to attack, and the character of former Labor leader Bill Shorten was the focus of attention, with many in the media only too happy to take aim and push issues related to likeability and trustworthiness. Albanese was not prepared to make these same errors and, in any case, the attempts by the media and the Coalition to smear his reputation fell flat and were less effective.

By not offering too much of a target and playing too cautiously, Albanese didn’t inspire the electorate in the same way that Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke or Kevin Rudd were able to but, sometimes, for a party that has been in opposition for most the time since Australia federation in 1901, perhaps it’s better to secure the victory first—irrespective of how narrow that victory might be—and then build on that to secure a platform for election victories in the future. However, Albanese has at his disposal, one of the best debut Cabinets in Australia’s history, rivaling Menzies’ Cabinet in 1949 and Hawke’s Cabinet in 1983. There are many seasoned performers in the Albanese Cabinet, with strong parliamentary and ministerial experience and a healthy combination of ambitious younger ministers who are preparing Labor for a longer term of government.

The 2022 election confirmed a shift away from the major parties and Labor is in an unusual position where its primary vote has also slipped, but it still managed to have a net gain of eight seats and form a majority government. The previous term of a Labor government between 2010–13 was rife with personality and factional issues, leadership changes, which made them an easy target for a rabid media and a maniacal leader of the opposition, Tony Abbott, who was only too happy to feed into the daily chaos and mayhem. This chaos continued after the Liberal–National Coalition returned to office in 2013, which ended up being a daily cycle of controversy, scandal or another esoteric issue that could be used to whip a frenzy in the continuing conservative culture wars.

There is a low level of public trust in politics and it will take a long time to restore this trust after a long time of voters disillusioned with a political system that they see is not working in their interests. The 2022 federal election was an important turning point. Australia has changed and this was one of the more important elections from over the past 50 years or so. The damage to Australia’s political system and the economy will take a while to repair but Australia has made what appears to be the right choice, even if it will take time for the merit of this choice to reveal itself.

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