The Long-Read Essay: Democracy, Power and Australia at the Crossroads

The Long-Read Essay: Democracy, Power and Australia at the Crossroads

2025 was the year the comforting myths finally fell away. In this long-read essay, we trace how democratic institutions – globally and in Australia – proved far more fragile than many assumed, as misinformation, authoritarian politics and media failure reshaped the political landscape. From Trump’s return and Elon Musk’s political interference, to the catastrophic war on Gaza and Australia’s own shallow election campaign, the year exposed a deep crisis of leadership, media courage and moral clarity. Yet amid the disillusionment, there are faint but real signs of renewal: growing scepticism of mainstream media, the rise of independent voices, and a questioning of Australia’s place in a changing world. This long-read episode asks a simple but urgent question: at the crossroads revealed in 2025, will Australia choose to continue to drift, or seek a democratic renewal? #AUSPOL

Support New Politics, just $5 per month:



Song listing:
  1. ‘La Femme d’Argent’, AIR.

Episoder(309)

Parliament returns, Lidia Thorpe and the beginning of the end of Dutton

Parliament returns, Lidia Thorpe and the beginning of the end of Dutton

Parliament has returned for the year, with the government keen to implement its agenda, the Opposition trying to make itself relevant, and everyone else trying to influence all the political outcomes....

10 Feb 202345min

The explosive Robodebt inquiry and reinventing capitalism

The explosive Robodebt inquiry and reinventing capitalism

It’s hard to believe how bad and illegal Robodebt was, but when you have the most incompetent government ever, anything’s possible.There was a massive amount of explosive evidence to come out from the...

3 Feb 202339min

The misogyny of News Corp and the racism of the Right

The misogyny of News Corp and the racism of the Right

The Australian media usually stays away from New Zealand politics but News Corporation had a field day when Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation, suggesting all of her instincts were bad, she shut...

27 Jan 202339min

A Nazi in the ranks and the end of Pell

A Nazi in the ranks and the end of Pell

Dominic Perrottet claims that he was naïve and didn’t really understand the consequences of his actions of wearing a Nazi costume to his 21st birthday party but, to put this in context, Perrottet is 4...

20 Jan 202335min

The Voice To Parliament and No Future for the Liberal Party

The Voice To Parliament and No Future for the Liberal Party

It’s still quite early in the year but already, there’s a big focus on The Voice To Parliament – the Prime Minister has started mapping the timeline for when the referendum might take place – and it c...

13 Jan 202339min

The year in review: Morrison the dangerous Prime Minister

The year in review: Morrison the dangerous Prime Minister

For most of this year, it looked like Scott Morrison and the Liberal–National coaltion was going to lose the election, but because the opinion polls got it so wrong in 2019, very few people were prepa...

23 Des 202220min

The year in review: the 2022 election

The year in review: the 2022 election

It was a big year in politics and the biggest event was the federal election in May. It wasn't clear who was going to win the election, even though opinion polls were suggesting Labor was going to win...

16 Des 202231min

Labor election review, gormless Robodebt, AFP interferes in Lehrmann case, and final 2022 opinion polls

Labor election review, gormless Robodebt, AFP interferes in Lehrmann case, and final 2022 opinion polls

The Labor review of the 2022 election has been released, and it’s a much better read than the reviews from the previous three elections which were all lost by the Labor Party. Of course, Labor did win...

9 Des 202243min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
forklart
popradet
stopp-verden
det-store-bildet
fotballpodden-2
nokon-ma-ga
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-gukild-johaug
hanna-de-heldige
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-ness
aftenbla-bla
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-utenrikskomiteen-med-bogen-og-grasvik
chit-chat-med-helle
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
e24-podden