In the second of a two-part series, rebuilding trust requires more than competent economic management – Australians also need institutions that listen, include and respond.
The causes of alienation are reasonably clear. Clear and firm political leadership is necessary so that the vacuum is not filled by One Nation and our legacy media that habitually promote division and hostility.
That good policy on key issues makes for good politics is still true. Good governments get the big decisions right.
On P&I, we have been highlighting many key issues that need attention and are of ongoing concern across the political spectrum. On almost every issue the government is failing. And the Coalition is much worse. No wonder we don’t trust the major parties.
- In the pending climate catastrophe, farmers will be more vulnerable than others. But the National Party has become an adjunct of the fossil fuel industry. Pauline Hanson relies on Gina Rinehart for advice on fossil fuels.
- Breaking loose from our dangerous and erratic ‘ally’ that puts at risk our sovereignty. The US has taken a wrecking ball to its allies. But Australia remains mute.
- Afraid of the Zionist lobby, the government is complicit in the Palestinian genocide. Richard Flanagan described our government as having “the spine of a liquorice stick”.
- Medicare must be reformed on a wide front and include dental care. Instead, we get band-aids.
- We must reassert the importance of public education with appropriate funding. Gonski is forgotten.
- We need major tax reform, particularly tax on our foreign-owned mining sector, to fund essential services such as health and education and at the same time reduce our growing budget deficit. The government squibbed a gas tax.
- We must support improved wages and conditions for carers, casuals, gig workers and cleaners. Many of these valuable people work in inner cities but live in outer metropolitan areas where housing may be cheaper but there are long commute times. Who is listening to them?
- We need rigorous lobbying regulations, and greater transparency across government to expose privileged access to ministers by mates.
- Some progress has been made in housing to reduce demand by those who see housing as a way to build wealth rather than a home to live in. But we must increase the supply of housing through state housing commissions and zoning changes to allow greater density. The skills of large numbers of migrants are not recognised.
- Many in their late fifties or sixties, having raised families and hopefully paid off the mortgage, find it hard to find retirement places for aged parents. Aged care is in crisis.
We also need to address the concerns of those who feel particularly alienated.
The value and dignity of trades and non-university education
We undervalue the tradesperson until we urgently need a carpenter, an electrician or a plumber. Non-university study is regarded by many as inferior to university study. Funding for vocational training must be increased. Just as importantly, we must address the social stigma that the trades are for people who can’t make it to university. Education must be a seamless system in which all education and skills are valued.
Strengthening local government and community institutions
Civic life and connection have been eroded with a loss of unions, churches, sporting associations and community organisations. The federal government should provide very targeted funding to local governments to invest in community infrastructure – libraries, community centres, trade training centres, community health clinics and sporting facilities.
The Albanese government established a $560 million Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program. Unfortunately, it looks to be another instance of pork barrelling, as we saw with the Morrison government’s ‘sports rort’ affair. Community grants programs should be independently assessed and fully disclosed. See
Citizens juries
Issues such as marriage equality, abortion and voluntary assisted dying are sensitive and polarising. In Australia, widespread online citizens assemblies could be used to address such issues and others. They should not be seen as substitutes for our parliaments but as mechanisms to seek views in the community in a structured and informed way.
At Pearls and Irritations, we supported the first online citizens assembly in Australia. It was authored by Professor Joseph Camilleri, emeritus professor at La Trobe University. He is also a director of Pearls and Irritations.
Properly organised citizen juries could provide a breakthrough for the whole community and particularly for those who feel that no one is listening.
Independent and rural media
The government’s News Bargaining Code needs review. The code has primarily benefited the publishers that have the most political leverage. News Corp receives substantially more from the code than small and regional publishers. An independent body should be established to distribute funds in the public interest and not to satisfy the concentrated legacy media. That independent body should recommend funds for community, independent and rural media. More importantly, additional special funds should be identified for the ABC, whose regional presence is long established and is the most cost-effective mechanism for improving diversity and local accountability. It already has the infrastructure, the credibility, trained journalists and, importantly, community trust. Its regional and rural presence has been progressively hollowed out by budget cuts. The ABC’s regional presence must be re-established, even if Pauline Hanson bans the ABC.
Community independents
By the 2025 federal election there were community groups in more than 50 electorates. The movement is non-partisan and does not endorse candidates based on party or policy platform. Each group is locally run and locally funded. The community independents project functions as a national network body providing resources, training and community connection.
The current election funding model rewards parties and candidates based on votes received after the election, not before. Community independents, who typically have no party donor base and must fundraise from scratch against candidates with access to party war chests, face a structural financial disadvantage. Reforms specifically to assist community independents would be difficult, but spending caps that reduce the financial advantage of well-funded party candidates should be introduced.
A new electoral system
Proportional representation (PR) for the House of Representatives, or a New Zealand mix of PR and local constituencies, or even the Tasmanian system, must be considered. But all are now a bridge too far. Still, third parties and independents might keep these possible changes in their back pocket for when an opportunity arises.
Summary
Major surveys have consistently found majority support for multiculturalism, although support for the scale and composition of migration over the years is much more contested.
Governments need to manage the economy well. But that is not enough. We need to combine economic repair with genuine democratic respect to give people both material improvement and the experience of being taken seriously by a system that has for too long treated them as an audience to be managed rather than citizens to be served. Improved economic policy and recognition politics must go hand in hand.
Read part one of this two-part series:
John Menadue is the Founder of Pearls and Irritations and a board member. He was formerly the Editor-in-Chief. John was the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser, Ambassador to Japan, Secretary of the Department of Immigration and CEO of Qantas.