Raise the IQ of both parties.
this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2025
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Obviously I have a little schadenfreude tingle as the political right in this country continues to crumble.
I've always had a kind of grudging respect for the Nationals in that they fairly earnestly and accurately represent the views of the rural conservative voting block.
In contrast the "Liberal" party is about as illiberal as they come and function mostly as class warriors on the side of the wealthy. The "Labor" party, who are supposed to be class warriors on the side of working Australians, are so up to their noses in Neoliberalism that they can't do the most basic things to help with cost of living.
If Barnaby wants to jump over to PHON he'll probably hold New England for them for a few election cycles but I'm not the first to observe that PHON are kind of de-facto part of the coalition already. It is interesting thought and I'm keen to see what others make of it.
Finally:
There has been speculation inside the Coalition about the prospect of a populist movement in the mould of the UK’s Reform, led by Nigel Farage, although most MPs believe such a party would fail because of Australia’s preferential and compulsory voting system.
This is obvious rot, preferential and compulsory voting allows votes to go to smaller parties, not the other way round. Just a random jab at one of the more democratic features of our system.
This is obvious rot, preferential and compulsory voting allows votes to go to smaller parties, not the other way round. Just a random jab at one of the more democratic features of our system.
Compulsory voting means elections are actually won by winning over the center. UK and US centrist politicians like to believe their countries work that way, but in Austraila it actually does.
As for preferential voting ... the main reason Reform is on track for a majority is because of vote splitting between all the other parties. It's unlikely reform could win in a 1:1 contest against a half-way competent opposition. In the case of the US the Republicans rose to power because people hated both options and with preferential voting the normal people could've been persuaded to turn up.
Obviously I have a little schadenfreude tingle as the political right in this country continues to crumble.
Never underestimate the stupidity, greed and entitlment of many voters. One Nation supoort is surging.
It's surging because the Coalition vote is collapsing.
This is exactly the point that a lot of the mainstream media are missing in their coverage.
There are exactly as many weird racist cranks voting as there always was but they are abandoning the Liberal party party for One Nation. At the same time centrist voters are abandoning the Liberals for Labor. The overall political shift is to the left, not the right and what remains of the right is more extreme and less credible.
According to RedBridge, the biggest shift to One Nation is among Gen X men. Kinda interesting because I already associated that demographic with cooker culture and now they seem to be making the shift to cooker politics as well.
That's interesting and counterintuitive to me, although it fits with a lot of the commentary around right wing politics. I have quite a few Gen X male friends.
As I'm laying in bed a bit tired and trying to organize my thoughts about this I have to remind myself that it can both be true that the biggest shift to One Nation is Gen X men, and that most Gen X men are kind and reasonable people who don't vote for One Nation.
I wonder how much is a conservative shift with age as that group enters their 50s.
Yes, I've wondered exactly the same. Will that be millennials like me (not actually me though lol) in another decade? Again, a lot of the polling so far suggests that us and zoomers move to the right slower than previous generations, but we are still young enough for a big shift later in life. I do feel like there is a certain age at which men often become quite grouchy and stubborn, which are conditions that can lead them down the right wing populist rabbit hole.
FWIW I don't think anyone actually moves to the right as they age. I think that a certain type of person is unwilling to move forward as the world does.
Someone who came of age in the 90s lived in a world where casual racism and sexism was more acceptable, being suspicious of the gays was fairly normal, transgender rights were unheard of, and the people with solar panels and electric cars really were eccentric cranks. If you were a fairly unenlightened but middle of the road person then and are offended by having your fixed views challenged then you're a right wing crank now.
If you have even a remotely open mind then you'll be okay.
Has Gina approved?
I though they only wanted white people?
Farmers like tomatoes and beetroots, plenty of votes wherever he goes.