‘Political alienation is relatively muted here because we have a system that leaves fewer people behind – and we must hold onto it’, writes Lenore Taylor in The Guardian (12.11.16).
‘As pretty much everyone has observed by now, Donald Trump, the UK’s pro-Brexit campaign and Australia’s own Pauline Hanson are all backed by broadly similar folk, voters who feel like human collateral damage in the “new” global economy and who are searching for both hope and scapegoats.
‘Their support allowed Trump to trample facts and decency to win the presidency of the United States and Brexiters to lure Britons to an act of extraordinary self-harm. In Australia the effect was significant but less spectacular – four One Nation seats and a smattering of other independents in the upper house.
‘There are many, many questions posed by all of this; about how to respond when facts no longer sway arguments; how to properly understand this roiling wave of grievance. But one of them is why the Australian backlash – so far at least – is more muted.’