Australian Political Futures: From Media-Generated Nostalgia to Responsible Class Politics

Conservative nostalgia for the return of LNP hegemony is still on the rise. The Weekend Australian (13-14 June 2026) deserves a reward for attempts to steer audiences in a conservative direction.

These initiatives included banner headlines against the perils of class politics supported by front-page comments from an Inquirer article by Paul Kelly. This coverage extended to a table on Labor federal seats which might fall to One Nation in 2028 to support a minority LNP government with a supporting article by David Tanner.

Overstating the political perspective can distract from news presentation. I do strive to remember that in my own writing to achieve the optimum balance.

Conservatives always promote Scott Morrison’s sole election victory in 2019 as a triumphal year achievement against Labor’s Bill Shorten. Parliament divided 77-68 in favour of the LNP with one Green member in the electorate of Melbourne plus Bob Katter in Kennedy and Rebekha Sharkie in Mayo (SA) from the Centre Alliance.

Despite all this hype about the 2019 LNP victory, the result was still relatively close with a swing to the LNP after preferences of 1.2 per cent and a TPP result of 51.5 per cent to the LNP after preferences and 48.5 per cent to Bill Shorten.

Scott Morrison’s only election win which would soon be blessed by kind words from President Trump at the opening of the Ptratt Industries at Wapakoneta, Ohio on 22 September 2019.

I was pleased to use online resources to repot on this extravagant event attended by PM Morrison and Ambassador Joe Hockey.

Remarks: Donald Trump Attends Pratt Industries Opening in Wapakoneta, Ohio – September 22, 2019

Readers can decide if there is any substance to the conservative hype at this function with its commitment to more defence spending, company tax cuts and more budget deficits prior to the tariff regimes directed at Middle Powers like Australia at their current rates of 12.5 per cent for both Australia and NZ.

In such challenging times, the Australian budget appropriately wound back tax concessions for negative gearing of rental properties (From Australian Treasury):

The CGT reforms will only apply to gains accruing after 1 July 2027.

Rental losses can only reduce income from residential properties

Under current tax settings, losses from a rental property can be used to reduce other forms of taxable income (e.g. salary and wages). This encourages leveraged property investments that can lead to investors receiving greater tax advantages than those available to owner occupiers.

From 1 July 2027, losses related to existing residential investment properties purchased from 7:30pm AEST 12 May 2026 will only be deductible against other income from residential properties, including capital gains.

Since 1999, housing prices have risen more than twice as fast as average full-time earnings.  From 2001 to 2021, the home ownership rate for households 25 to 34 years old declined by seven percentage points. Dr. Jim’s budgetary changes will help level the playing field for first home buyers, preserve the gains investors have made, and support investment in new housing supply. From 1 July 2027, the Government will:

• limit negative gearing for residential property investments to new builds
• replace the 50 per cent CGT discount for individuals, trusts and partnerships

Labor governments have always acted in a similar manner during times of crisis which have been increased by the financial burden of spending on AUKUS and increases in military maneuvers in the vicinity of China and adjacent Micronesia.

ALP National President Wyne Swan has admirably endorsed the change in fiscal direction by the Albanese Government against the antiseptic centrism. This attitude augers well for Labor’s National Conference in Adelaide on 23-25 July 2026.

Historically, Queensland State Labor enjoyed its longest run of continuous government in Queensland between 1932 and 1957 under the capable leadership of Premier Forgan Smith.

What’s Wrong with Responsible Democratic Class Politics in Difficult Times?

Through the Bureau of Industry and later the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1938, the government initiated massive engineering projects that still define Queensland today:

• The Story Bridge: A massive cantilever bridge over the Brisbane River that employed hundreds of men and modernized Brisbane’s transport network.
• The Somerset Dam (Stanley River): Initiated to secure Brisbane’s water supply and provide long-term flood mitigation.
• The University of Queensland (St Lucia): The government funded the permanent relocation and construction of the university’s main campus, anchored by the grand Art Deco building.
• An Aside: More recent Labor Administrations after 1989 have relied on the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) to expand public investment initiatives during phases of financial austerity in state grants from Canberra during the Morrison years. The QIC site once offered details of its QIC-Ping An Joint Venture with China.
• Ironically the Crisafulli Government continues to issue favourable press releases on commercial relations with China although security protocols have been strengthened against investment relations with China during the Trump administrations.

The Weekend Australian offered a list federal Labor seats being targeted by One Nation which included the seat of Petrie in the northern corridors of Brisbane which Labor won in 2022 and retained in 2025 with an enhanced majority. The multi-coloured table of winnable ON federal seats conveniently ignored the LNP seats also being targeted by One Nation with supporting analysis by David Tanner. The federal seat of Petrie was one of the casualties in Labor’s slender first victory in 2022.

Back in 2019 after that legendary single election victory for Scott Morrison and the onset of the COVID crisis, Housing Minister Luke Howarth from the Petrie electorate appalled Australians with his bizarre spin on the housing crisis (The Guardian, 9 July 2019):

The new federal homelessness minister, Luke Howarth, has faced a backlash after he played down the existence of a homelessness crisis and claimed it was important to “put a positive spin” on the issue.

On Tuesday morning, the Queensland MP argued “99.5% of our Australians are homed” and said he would prioritise emergency accommodation in his new role, putting him on a collision course with lord mayors who say a lack of affordable housing is driving up homelessness rates in their cities.

Asked about the nearly 14% increase in homelessness between the 2011 and 2016 census surveys, Howarth claimed the increase was “not ahead of population growth.”

“The population from the last census to the previous one increased by almost 20% and when you look at what we’re seeing … there is about 116,000 homeless people out of 25 million,” he told ABC Radio National.

Australia’s population increased by 8.8% between the 2011 and 2016 census surveys, meaning the rise in the number of homeless people in Australia outstripped population growth.

Instead comparing the 2016 census with the 2001 census, he also argued there was “good news” around a drop in the raw numbers of people rough sleeping from 8,946 to 8,200.

“What I’m saying, and I want your listeners to know, is that Australia, we live in a fantastic country,” he said.

“We have 99.5% of our Australians … homed and living in safe places. There’s half a per cent of the population that isn’t. We want to make sure that that 0.5% are in homes as quickly as possible and we’re doing what we can to go out there and talk to people in the sector and find out how we do it.

“I want to put a positive spin on it as well and not just say Australia’s in a housing crisis when it affects a very, very small percentage of the population.”

The number of rough sleepers rose from 6,810 at the 2011 census to 8,200 at the 2016 census, a 20.4% increase.

Nostalgia for fake recollections from past public policy glories is a sign of political dementia. It requires a firm therapy of responsible class politics as recommended by Wayne Swan for discussion at Labor’s National Conference.

State Labor’s Premier Forgan Smith (1932-41) from Wayne Swan’s Forum Faction helped to bring Queenslanders out of the miseries of the 1930s which the UAP Government of PM Joe Lyons was locked into ideological barriers to government intervention before John Curtin was asked by the aristocratic Governor-General to form a minority government when Australian conservative were beset by personality rivalries in the transitions from Menzies to Fadden after the death of Joe Lyons (Image Governor-General Alexander Gore Arkwright Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie to the Rescue: Wikipedia).

Former GG Helped to End the Conservative Political Charades in 1941

Denis Bright (pictured) is a financial member of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA). Denis is committed to consensus-building on the critical issues raised in each article.

Your feedback advances the cause of citizen journalism.