New Politics: Australian Politics

• The Review of 2025 Part 4: AUKUS, cancel culture and how Labor governs

  Australia enters 2026 facing deep strategic uncertainty: AUKUS costs have blown out to $1.3 billion with little clarity about what Australia is actually buying, while fear-driven national-security politics – from Richard Marles’ exaggerated warnings about a Chinese “flotilla” to unconstitutional anti-protest laws in NSW and creeping police-state powers in Victoria – continue to erode democratic accountability. As governments amplify threats, expand surveillance and silence dissent, the mainstream media has drifted further into PR and censorship, from the National Press Club cancelling Chris Hedges to the Sydney Morning Herald publishing misleading reporting used to attack Anthony Albanese.   And despite its historic 2025 landslide, Labor still governs cautiously, clinging to bipartisanship, avoiding bold reforms on climate, housing and integrity, and remaining wary of collaboration with the Greens even where their agendas align. With Australia bound tightly to US security interests, distracted by culture wars and hollow media coverage, and hesitant to use its political dominance for meaningful change, the question heading into 2026 is whether the country can shift from fear and dependency towards genuine strategic independence and confident, democratic governance. #AUSPOLSupport New Politics, just $5 per month:Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/newpoliticsSubstack: https://newpolitics.substack.comSong listing:‘Let Me Entertain You’, Robbie Williams.‘Swing For The Crime’, Ed Kuepper.‘Satellite Anthem Icarus’, Boards of Canada.‘Off The Grid’, Beastie Boys.‘Yesterday’s Gone’, Beth Orton & William Orbit.

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• The Review of 2025 Part 3: All the way with the US forever

  As the United States slides into institutional decay under Donald Trump’s return to the White House – with sweeping tariffs on global trade, mass deportations, rolled-back civil rights and an increasingly authoritarian style – Australia has failed to confront the strategic danger of relying on an erratic superpower. Instead of using this moment to diversify towards Asia, Europe and the Global South, Canberra is fixated on whether Anthony Albanese could secure a photo-op in the Oval Office, while signing critical-minerals deals and celebrating AUKUS announcements that overwhelmingly benefit the US. With Pine Gap’s secret intelligence role, billions of dollars in rare-earth exports and deep defence integration, Australia’s supposed “sovereign choices” look increasingly constrained. The deeper question – how Australia protects its national interest when US democracy is eroding – was never asked, leaving the country more dependent than ever and no closer to a genuinely independent foreign policy. #AUSPOLSupport New Politics, just $5 per month:Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/newpoliticsSubstack: https://newpolitics.substack.com

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• The Review of 2025 Part 2: A big Labor win, Liberal collapse and silencing Palestine

  In our continuing review of the 2025 year in Australian federal politics, we discuss the federal election held in May, analysing one of the worst campaigns by a major political party in modern history and the resulting collapse of the Liberal Party, including the loss of Peter Dutton’s seat. We examine how Anthony Albanese’s Labor government ran a cautious but disciplined campaign built on stability and competence, while the Coalition relied on fear, culture-war outrage and an implausible nuclear energy policy that drove its primary vote and seat count to historic lows, leaving the party stranded in political wilderness.We also look at Australia’s weak and deliberate silence on the genocide in Gaza during the campaign, Labor’s continued supply of military components to Israel, its refusal to impose sanctions, and the abandonment of core party principles under lobby pressure – and then go on to expose the growing influence of the Israel lobby across politics, media, universities and cultural institutions, and what this means for free speech, academic freedom, journalism and democratic accountability in Australia. #AUSPOLSupport New Politics, just $5 per month.Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/newpoliticsSubstack: https://newpolitics.substack.com

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• The Review of 2025 Part 1: Culture wars, Treaty and the collapse of the politics of fear

  To commence our review of the 2025 year in Australian federal politics, this bonus episode examines the continuing culture wars, the Australia Day and Invasion Day debate, and a federal election that dramatically reshaped the political landscape. We explore how Peter Dutton and conservative commentators attempted to weaponise “wokeness,” cancel culture and identity politics, why these tactics are increasingly ineffective, and how Victoria’s historic Treaty with First Nations people exposed the emptiness of Liberal Party scare campaigns. #AUSPOL Support New Politics, just $5 per month.   Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/newpoliticsSubstack: https://newpolitics.substack.com

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• The Seat Warmers: What Is The Purpose Behind Labor?

  In the final week of Parliament, New Politics asks a blunt question about Australian federal politics: what is the Albanese Labor government actually for? This episode turns its focus to Labor’s record in office, examining stalled gambling advertising reform, public service and CSIRO job cuts, tensions with the Australian Greens, and the growing gap between election promises and policy delivery. We explore rising inflation, falling productivity, weak investment, mining superprofits, gas export contracts, and the long shadow of Howard-era economic decisions, alongside Labor’s contradictory approach to climate policy, coal and gas expansion, and slow environmental reform. From energy prices and domestic gas reservation to housing policy, HECS, the failed Voice referendum and a weakened National Anti-Corruption Commission, this episode argues that competence without reform is not enough — and asks whether a managerial Labor government risks squandering a historic opportunity for structural change.Support New Politics, just $5 per month:Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/newpoliticsSubstack: https://newpolitics.substack.com

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