Wrong time, wrong diagnosis

Between the election of Donald Trump, Britain’s disengagement from the European Union and the resurgence of nationalist parties in Europe, the old Western political order finds itself threatened by a curious combination of establishment figures gone rogue and broad-based public discontent. Cory Bernardi is betting that Australia is experiencing the same trends to the same extent – and, equally speculatively, that he is the figure to tap into that mood. In some ways Australia was ahead of the curve. Pauline Hanson has been riding a wave of dissatisfaction for twenty years now, more than a lifetime in political terms, and the Howard-era culture wars were a transparent attempt to curry electoral favour by opposing the government to an imagined “elite” who could wear the blame for society’s ills. More recently, both Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott rode anti-politics into (and back out of) power, and we now enjoy a Senate populated by a colourful collection of minor parties, all claiming to represent the disenfranchised and dispossessed.