Minority Report: The New Shape of Australian Politics; Quarterly Essay 96

Australian politics is shifting. The two-party system was broken at the last federal election, and a minority government is a real possibility in the future. Politics-as-usual is not enough for many Australians.

In this richly insightful essay, George Megalogenis traces the how and why of a political re-alignment. He sheds new light on the topics of housing, the changing suburbs, the fate of the Voice to Parliament, and trust in politicians. This is an essay about the Greens, the teals and the Coalition. In a contest between new and old, progressive and conservative, which vision of Australia will win out? But it's also about Labor in power – is careful centrism the right strategy for the times, or is something more required?

In Minority Report, Megalogenis explores the strategies and secret understandings of a political culture under pressure.

"The sword of minority government hangs over the major parties. Neither side commands an electoral base broad enough in the twenty-first century to guarantee that power, once secured, can be sustained for more than a single three-year term. Now the question turns to whether a return to minority government will further damage our democracy, or, perhaps, revitalise it."—George Megalogenis, Minority Report

This essay contains correspondence relating to Quarterly Essay 95, High Noon, from Thomas Keneally, Emma Shortis, David Smith, Bruce Wolpe, Paul Kane, and Don Watson