Democracy Sausage: Crisis in orthodox politics

With One Nation polling plateauing, can Barnaby Joyce reinvigorate a party without policy and remain ahead of a Coalition veering to the right? What does the Liberal party stand for and will the unity ticket with the Nationals survive? Will Labour capitalise on changing public sentiment and start an agenda of significant reform or stick to Albanese incrementalism, and how will the conflict in the Middle East temper this year’s budget ambition?

James Massola is chief political commentator for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously national affairs editor and South-East Asia correspondent. He has won Quill and Kennedy awards and been a Walkley finalist. 

Dr Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.

Mark Kenny is the Director of the Australian Studies Institute. He came to the Australian National University after a high-profile journalistic career culminating in 6 years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.

This podcast is produced by the Australian National University on the lands of the Ngunnawal, Ngambri and the Ngarigu peoples.