Recent polling has come as a great shock to those who have not been paying attention, and who are out of touch with mainstream Australia.

For a long time, the writing has been on the wall. The establishment has brushed off any threats to the status quo as fringe and extreme, but the more that Australians have been pushed and ignored and treated with contempt, the more they have gravitated or found solace with outlying minor parties.

This has been the case on both the left and right.

However, what has generally been attributed to politicians being ‘out of touch’, is, in my view, actually a piece of a far greater shift in the political paradigm, and I believe the real issue stems from emergent technologies and the means by which they are used and improperly navigated by the general populace.

The nature of public political sentiment in the modern era – as a result of a polarising climate of social media, the biases inherent in the mainstream media landscape, and the general lack of patience in the age of instant gratification – has led to a political theatre that sways with the changing winds of present woes.

It is a fickle system that rewards those whose lips drip with the sweetness of what you want to hear, not what you need to hear. And those who are quick to assert those thoughts, are seen as the shining beacons of change, as opposed to the porous murmurings of a snack, lacking in true nutrition. These political slogans are sugar hits and we live among the hordes of the diabetic.

What deeply troubles me is that I was taught, in my youth, how to think critically and to verify sources before forming conclusions, and yet, it appears that the generations above and below my Millennial mindset are largely unable to engage with the medium in reasonable ways. The challenge for myself is indeed, not to inflate my ego nor my contempt for the broad public as a result of this, by reminding myself that none of us are immune to the effects of digital siloing and algorithmic alleyways designed to narrow our frames of reference; to elevate our own self-importance, which in turn, turns us against our brothers and sisters for their apparent ineptitude. It is a toxic plantation that farms hatred and arrogance en masse, and it does it so expertly, that one is entirely unaware it is occurring to them; as if they are the only sane person in a psych ward.

Now to the politics. Prime Minister Albanese succeeded in becoming the leader of this nation by doling out policy promises and pledges that were entirely antithetical to the inherent ethos of a socialist-leftist party. And yet, so many were so quickly and so easily drawn in by his fork-tongued double-speak so as to simply accept the ‘truths’ they desired in their hearts regardless of whether or not the intent, the means, or the practicality of such achievements were ever truly on the table.

We conservatives shook our heads in disbelief as we watched this phenomenon occur – and twice no less – despite all of the data, the reports, and the general experience of Australians everywhere telling the story of policy failure after policy failure. And yet, Mr Albanese found his way back to the lodge. So the fingers began being pointed. The blame was dispensed. Then the protests were registered. ‘We need a more decisive Opposition.’ ‘We need values-based policies.’ ‘We need truth and integrity.’ These clarion calls were entirely valid. The Coalition needed to reform after such a defeat. But what followed was the hubris of the conservatives, who believed they were immune to the effects of those morsels masquerading as manna.

In defence of this present Opposition, the Coalition under the leadership of Sussan Ley has been one of the most scrutinised oppositions in recent memory. Opposition, by nature, lacks the teeth to enact direct policy change. It relies on messaging, on mudslinging, and on alternative policy offerings. In the public eye, and perhaps by expert politicking from the Labor government, it seems that the general public still hold the Coalition responsible for every policy failure in this country as if they are the present ruling party. Little is laid at the feet of the government beyond the rhetoric at the pub, with many often lumping both parties together and throwing their hands up as if there is nothing to be done.

Policy direction is one such area where this occurs and the Coalition has copped much flak for not having a substantive policy offering. However, I again believe this ire in the public and media sphere is more of a reflection on the erosion of individual patience in the digital age rather than an opposition failing to act decisively. There is an utter irony that the same people who argue that Albo’s hate speech laws were rushed are the people who argue that the Coalition should already be rushing out policy, rather than doing the slow and meaningful work of developing substantial, well thought out policy that will provide a real alternative to the government; that has a plan to genuinely put the country back on track.

The most terrifying element to these shifting digital tides, is again twofold.

One, the media class, either through incompetence, or through willful ignorance, are both failing to truly scrutinise and hold this government to account whilst censoring and taking a highly critical position of Sussan Ley’s leadership and the Coalition broadly. And two, the Australian public has become so docile and unable to formulate well-considered and balanced positions, they are rushing quickly to short social media clips and developing ill-informed opinions about what the Coalition actually believes, that claims they are not acting, that they are weak and that they are failing to hold the government to account.

The reality is, in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack, the Opposition Leader was on the ground every single day with colleagues, calling out the government’s failures and speaking words of comfort and support to the Jewish-Australian community. She spoke decisively against radical Islamists and firmly about the alternative response a Ley-Coalition government would enact. Yet for all her efforts, recent polling still saw a decline in the Coalition’s primary vote, and an increase in One Nation’s vote. I believe this to be largely a result of the aforementioned censorship by the media class and of the entrenchment of ideological positions that social media has sedimented through the repetitive feeding of a singular narrative via algorithms. Granted, Senator Pauline Hanson is clearly resonating in her messaging with scores of Australians who feel forgotten or abandoned by the major parties, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that she is therefore the right step forward for the right. I am not critical, however, I reserve judgment at this time on this issue until I’ve conducted a proper analysis.

Meanwhile, the general lack of critical thought among the public and the dearth of skills and tools to properly recognise credible sources is alarming. Thousands of X and Instagram accounts that simply include the word ‘news’ in their online handle are immediately elevated to the position of herald, and their pithy headlines seem to be enough detail for the masses to develop opinions about political leaders and policies. It frankly embarrasses me as a fellow Australian to see my people act in this manner. Adding to this noise, are the bots. Non-human accounts comprise up to 51 per cent of online traffic now. These bots add fuel to the fire in support of whichever powers are utilising them covertly.

The core ancient truth gleaned by the great thinkers of antiquity still rings true today. The public will always be swayed by eloquent speakers who disseminate the desires of your heart, irrespective of their capacity or intention to follow through. In layman’s terms; you will gladly be lied to, if the liar in question tells you what you want to hear, impressively.

I continue to issue this call. Do not delude yourself about imminent fantastical futures of a systemic shakeup that ushers in a new Utopia. The present, finite realities of our political offerings are such that any further fracturing and splintering of votes on the right side of politics will once again ensure that the Labor Party retains its stranglehold over this nation. Do not abandon values-based conservatism which is underpinned by unity among diversity of thought. That is what still lies beneath the dysfunction of the current Coalition. Senator Pauline Hanson has been up front; she will not be able to form government at the next election without a broader coalition of support. The ever-present tension is conservatism will always be more fractious than the left. The left is defined by singularity of thought and blind loyalty to a collective ethos, while it is imminently necessary for there to be disagreement among those whose imperative function is undergirded by personal freedoms.

So what does the polling data really tell us? Does it affirm that there is a subset of Australia presently dissatisfied with our major parties? Sure. Though it depends on the size and complement of the sample audience captured in the poll and on the line of questioning put to those people. It is a glimpse of a sentiment at a point in time, and is why it cannot be the only guiding light.

Some yet say that the Coalition should simply ignore the noise and stay the course. There is much time before the next federal election. It is certainly not too late for the revelation of policy pledges in due course; on the economy, on immigration, on cost of living, and on housing. Will polling course-correct once the Coalition has a meaningful offering and as most citizens begin to finally cast their minds toward voting? Or does the party need to push deeper into conservative politics? It partially killed Peter Dutton at the last election and killed Liberal seats in now-Teal territories. Will the Coalition issues simply shift weight onto the other side of the see-saw? Sadly, the conclusion appears to be that it is no longer possible to retain a catch-all party in the fickle, digital 21st Century. We are marching headlong into an age of abject binarism; where the enduring two-party preferential democratic system that has served this country can no longer endure. Instead, we are morphing into a left-right, ‘Them’ versus ‘Us’ paradigm akin to that which is occurring the world over as a result of the amorphous, globalised digital current that influences us all now.

If Senator Hanson has done anything substantial, perhaps it is enough that she has lit the fire under the political system that has relied on the certainty of a two-party preferential voting ecosystem that has never needed to navigate external threats.

Conversely, perhaps it has exposed the unseen fragility of a previously thought enduring democratic system that prioritised a generally centrist, balanced form of governance at the cost of conviction.

I do not believe it is an exaggeration to say we are at a crossroads, not only as Australians, but as a humanity at the cusp of a significant societal transformation, the likes of which we have never seen, and there is no segment of society – not political, social, cultural, physical or metaphysical – that will remain untouched. It is now, more than ever, that we must cling to our inherent humanity; our capacity for compassion, critical thought and justice, or we will surely lose ourselves entirely.