Since the 1970s the Australian electorate has become increasingly disenchanted with the major parties. Lately this has accelerated. At the last federal election, the minor parties (including the Greens) attracted 36% of the vote. But this pattern is not spread evenly across the population; the minor party vote is a lot higher in regional areas. Overseas, this city/country divide was reflected in the Brexit vote, and in Trump’s election in the US.
What’s driving this, and what, if anything, should governments do about it?
On the highway, heading into Bega. Royal blue summer sky, black and white cows dotted across unseasonably green hills.