{"id":878044,"date":"2026-09-03T01:14:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T01:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/878044\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T01:14:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T01:14:14","slug":"politics-why-is-australia-shifting-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/878044\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics: Why Is Australia Shifting Right?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To understand the surge of the far-right, it helps to look at nationalism, authoritarianism and populism \u2014 and how much they already exist in Australia, says Dr Ibolya Losoncz\u2026<\/p>\n

IBOLYA LOSONCZ<\/a><\/p>\n

The reasons for the rise of far-right politics are often cited as financial stress, housing shortages, and frustration with government.<\/p>\n

Yet this doesn\u2019t explain why disillusioned voters are drifting toward the far right instead of the left.<\/p>\n

To understand that, we need to look at how far-right ideas actually connect to mainstream Australian values \u2014 not treat the far right as some separate, foreign or imported movement.<\/p>\n

The common assumption is that far-right politics is fundamentally opposed to democratic values. Or as a kind of \u201csickness\u201d in an otherwise healthy system.<\/p>\n

But political scientist Cas Mudde<\/a> argues the opposite: \u201cThe radical right isn\u2019t a rejection of mainstream values, it\u2019s an extreme version of them.\u201d\u00a0 Meaning this drift to the right has grown out of ideas already normal and accepted, just pushed further.<\/p>\n

To see this, it helps to look at the three core ingredients of far-right politics: nationalism, authoritarianism, and populism. And ask how much of each already exist in Australian life.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nationalism: Defining who counts as \u201cus\u201d<\/p>\n

Nationalist language is nothing new in Australian politics.<\/p>\n

Phrases like the \u201cnational interest,\u201d \u201cAustralian values,\u201d and warnings about the \u201cnation in danger\u201d are everywhere, and people who disagree with those phrases are often branded \u201cun-Australian.\u201d<\/p>\n

This has deep roots. The dispossession of and violence against First Nations peoples was foundational to the Australian state, and legal scholar Irene Watson<\/a> argues that this violence remains built into Australian law today. One of the very first laws passed by the new federal parliament in 1901 was the White Australia Policy, which tied national identity directly to race.<\/p>\n

We like to think we\u2019ve moved past this. But in the lead-up to the 2016 election, then-Immigration Minister Peter Dutton claimed refugees \u201cwon\u2019t be numerate or literate\u201d and would be \u201ctaking Australian jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

These two claims, that refugees are simultaneously incapable and a threat, are not as contradictory as they sound. Together, they paint outsiders as both lesser and dangerous, while reassuring \u201chard-working families\u201d that their fear of falling behind is justified, and that someone or some party or grouping needs to protect them from these threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe One Nation far-right is drawing on very Australian nationalist and authoritarian threads already woven into society\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A \u201cPut Australia First\u201d rally in Sydney. Picture: Anthony Klan\/The Klaxon<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Authoritarianism: Institutions turned against citizens<\/p>\n

Cases of authoritarianism, meaning when a government uses state power to override democratic norms, has been seen in Australia.<\/p>\n

For example, the 2007 military intervention into remote Northern Territory Indigenous communities (codenamed Operation Outreach, led by the Australian Defence Force, at Prime Minister John Howard\u2019s direction) led to compulsory income management; enforced bans on alcohol, pornography, and gambling in dozens of communities; and suspended the permit system for access to Aboriginal lands and acquired government-controlled leases over townships.<\/p>\n

Another clear case was the Robodebt fiasco introduced by Coalition governments between 2015-19.<\/p>\n

It led to investigations into nearly half a million welfare recipients claiming they owed money they didn\u2019t actually owe.<\/p>\n

The fallout was severe, including at least five suicides linked to the debt-collection process. When Labor formed government in 2022 it called a Royal Commission into Robodebt which the new Liberal leader, Peter Dutton, dismissed as a \u201cwitch hunt\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dutton said instead of the Royal Commission, the public focus should instead be on families \u201cstruggling to pay their power bills\u201d.<\/p>\n

By framing the issue as one between welfare recipients and struggling families, that reinforces a far-right idea<\/a>: that one group\u2019s wellbeing must come at another group\u2019s expense. And that taps into another old colonial pattern where \u201cour\u201d security has always been linked to dispossessing someone else.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Populism: Speaking for \u201cthe people\u201d<\/p>\n

The claim of populists is that they are the authentic voice of ordinary people and against the views of out-of-touch elites.<\/p>\n

That is not necessarily unique to the far right as every party in Australia uses this pitch to some degree. It works because it resonates with people who feel left behind by leaders they see as elitist and out-of-touch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe claim of populists is that they are the authentic voice of ordinary people and against the views of out-of-touch elites\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s different about today\u2019s far-right populism is how directly it merges with nationalism. There is an emerging message from the far right that the elites are rigging the system to favor \u201cothers\u201d. By that they mean the elites favour Indigenous Australians, immigrants, and people of colour over \u201chard-working Australian families.\u201d<\/p>\n

The implication is unmistakable: real Australians are white, and everyone else is undeservedly benefiting from the system.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A pattern, not an accident<\/p>\n

Far-right movements don\u2019t emerge from nowhere, they derive from existing ideas and then updated and re-fashioned into something new and appropriate to current circumstances.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly what\u2019s happening now. The One Nation far-right is drawing on very Australian nationalist and authoritarian threads already woven into society and repackaging them to address and explain today\u2019s anxieties.<\/p>\n

If we treat the far right as a fringe problem involving only a small number of extremists, we miss how deeply these ideas are already embedded in the mainstream \u2014 and how much work it will take to address that.<\/p>\n

Dr Ibolya Losoncz<\/a> is a Research Fellow at the School of Global Governance and Regulation at Australian National University (ANU)<\/p>\n

Read more in our Age of Rage series here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Quality independent journalism is vital to our democracy. Please consider supporting us for\u00a0as little as $10 a month.<\/a>
\nThank you,<\/p>\n

Anthony Klan
\nEditor, The Klaxon<\/p>\n

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