By late last year the conditions were there for the Coalition to make history with the first defeat of a one-term federal government in nearly a century. Australians were deeply unhappy with the Albanese government. People were angry and hurting. But the public weren’t yet focussed on the alternative and, when they did, they weren’t impressed with what they saw. History was made by the Coalition suffering its lowest federal election primary vote since the Liberal Party’s formation, a meagre 31.8 per cent.

Labor’s primary vote wasn’t much better at 34.6 per cent. A third of Australians didn’t vote for either contender for government but, when forced to choose, stuck with what they had.