Polarisation is a Myth

Status Quo 

One of the most consequential lies in Australian public life is that we are a deeply polarised nation. We are not. What we are is a nation in which socio-cultural differences have been magnified and amplified, often deliberately, by those in positions of power with an interest in preserving the economic status quo.

Divide and distract. It continues to work because the infrastructure of public discourse – the algorithms, the media business models, the bad kabuki of parliament – rewards it.

But when you sit with people, night after night, and give them the space to talk about what actually matters to them, the picture that emerges is striking in its consistency. Australians want the same things. They want to be able to afford a decent life. They want healthcare and education that works. They want their kids to have a future. They want kindness and fairness. They want to know that their neighbours are OK.

And they want a government that governs: that legislates and regulates in the public interest and stops letting only the powerful dictate terms.

The values of care, compassion, looking after your neighbour, and giving everyone a fair go are not sentimental relics or cliches. Only people who are disconnected from ordinary Australians think they are.

Centrism

Overwhelmingly, our participants describe themselves as centrists, even when their substantive positions are economically extremely progressive. And, particularly in urban areas and among younger regional Australians, they are socially progressive as well.

This self-described centrism is not an accurate ideological descriptor. It is a social positioning device: a way of signalling reasonableness in a political environment experienced as tribal and extreme – something most people hate almost more than they can articulate.

Australians will argue passionately for radically progressive policies, but they want those policies explained in calm, moderate language. They reject what they perceive as activist posturing with a visceral intensity because they see it as divisive. And what they crave is community connection and a sense that they and their neighbours can just get along.

# This is an abridged summary of the article.