Quarterly Essay Issue 96 : Minority Report

What does the new political landscape look like in Australia?

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

In this richly insightful essay, George Megalogenis traces the how and why of a political realignment. This is an essay about the teals, the Greens 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