Four weeks ago or so, I called it: Labor will win the 2025 federal election.
Not because they dazzled, but because they held the line — and in an era of political static and noise, that kind of discipline reads as strength. The polls are now catching up. A projected Labor majority of 84 seats. A Liberal-National Coalition drop to just 47 — the worst in 80 years.
Peter Dutton is publicly optimistic, invoking miracle metaphors from 2019. But even his allies are nervously watching the slow unravelling. This time, there are no “quiet Australians” to pull a rabbit from the hat — only right-wing dross parties and toxic independents desperate to be roped in, further tarnishing the Coalition brand.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese keeps being accused of weakness — but I see it differently. He’s not theatrical, but deliberate. He loses his temper less than most tradies at morning tea. It takes a real fool to crack his calm.
The Broader Current
While we squabble over tax reform and personality politics, something much larger is in motion: Australia is finally confronting the limits of 20th-century thinking — in energy, governance, and representation.
The Thorium salt reactor image accompanying this article isn’t fantasy — it’s a question mark hanging over our future. In decommissioned coal plants, standing in silent rows like mausoleums of the old world, we now ask: what comes next?
Fusion? Thorium? AI-assisted design of next-gen reactors? These are not the dreams of futurists — they are the urgent engineering mandates of a warming world.
And while the Coalition pretends it’s still 1996, Australians — in increasing numbers — are turning to Independents, Greens, and vision-aligned parties. They’re not looking left or right. They’re looking forward.
The Community Voice
For years, I’ve called for a genuine mechanism for community input into national and state governance — not lip service, not token panels, but legislative inclusion. So far, the mainstream has yawned. But every time an Independent wins, every time a major party collapses in a safe seat, I know we are moving toward that model, however slowly.
The next federal election won’t just be a result. It’ll be a referendum on whether Australia wants to be governed by ideas or ideologies.
