The limited lessons of Australia’s ‘safe’ change to a slightly greener, more caring alternative
There will be many articles over the next few days – some of them even in The Independent – in which the writer will conclude that the Australian election result confirms everything they already believed about politics.
In Britain, Labour supporters will claim it shows that an uncharismatic leader can prevail over anti-immigrant and “culture war” rhetoric by staying true to a traditional message of social justice. Conservatives will claim that Scott Morrison paid the price of departing from the values of his traditional supporters – the free market, low taxes and frugal public spending.
Greens will claim that their time is coming – their Australian equivalents gained ground as the third party in share of first-preference votes. Both the Greens and the Liberal Democrats might also point to the night’s biggest winners, the “teal” independent candidates, who gained most seats from the ruling Liberal coalition. These are a distinctively Australian group of anti-establishment politicians – not even a party. Most are strongly motivated by the climate emergency, with an attitude of “a plague on both your houses” towards the two main parties.
