Opinion: Our once-lucky country has descended into fear and loathing

How is it that in a country so manifestly blessed with natural resources life has become a constant struggle, asks Mike O’Connor.

Peter Dutton (left) and Anthony Albanese are vying to lead a deeply despondent Australia.

Australians feel like passengers in their own country, unsure of who is in the driver’s seat. They do not feel stable. They do not feel like they are moving forward. They miss a time of bold leadership.

These words are not mine, but taken from a recent survey carried out by a non-politically-aligned consultancy group which revealed a deep-seated sense of unease in the national psyche.

We might be smiling on the outside but if the survey is accurate then it means that in their quieter moments, many Australians are fearful of the future.

It found that young Australians feel that they are part of the first generation which will be poorer than their parents, that their dreams of home ownership will never be realised and that rather than planning to save for a deposit, they now worry about being able to pay the rent.

Middle-aged Australians feel that they are treading water, all their energies and best efforts consumed by the constant battle to maintain their living standard, never moving forward and forever fearful of slipping back.

If the results are a true reflection of what a large slice of the nation is feeling and thinking – and they ring disturbingly true to me – then the politicians of all colours and persuasions in whom we have placed our trust in recent decades stand accused of having betrayed it.

How is it that in a country that is so manifestly blessed with natural resources that people are beset by a feeling of social and financial insecurity and believe that life has become a constant struggle?

“They did everything right. They secured their place. They got the job, took out the mortgage, built the life they were expected to build and yet they do not feel comfortable. They do not feel stable. They also see their children struggling and quietly fear that the choice is to support the next generation at the cost of dignity in their old age,” the report found.

Strike a chord? These feelings of instability and insecurity may not be apparent on the surface but run deeply and quietly, steadily eroding the once steadfast belief that if you worked hard, lived within your means and played by the rules then you would be assured of a safe haven.

Voter disenchantment is at an all-time high.

The gap between the political class, their attendant bureaucratic mandarins and those people whose interests they claim to represent has never been greater and widens with every passing day.

The social harmony that we once enjoyed has dissipated and people find themselves confronted with mounting evidence that the great Australian multicultural experiment has begun to fail as the nation divides into tribes defined by race and/or religion.

Chants of “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!” were often derided as being bogan-like but they did at least represent a grassroots sense of togetherness and national pride but it seems that this is slipping away.

For years we have watched from our loungerooms and shaken our heads in disbelief at the scenes of civil unrest in Europe and the United States played out on our screens and now the culture of them-and-us is upon us.

Both Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese should view this steady shift in sentiment with alarm for it translates as a failure of leadership and loss of faith in both of their respective parties.

The danger inherent in this voter disenchantment and despair is for people to turn to minor parties such as the Greens without bothering to look behind their feel-good slogans to the policies which would inflict untold damage on the nation.

Pre-election promises are made and just as easily broken, scare tactics and misinformation – lies by another name – are happily embraced as legitimate tactics, jobs for the boys and the girls flourish and the game goes on as ever before.

I’ve a feeling, however, that business-as-usual politics isn’t going to cut it this time around. There’ll be the usual handouts and financial carrots dangled before the eyes of the electorate by both sides but will we take the bait?

Love or loathe Donald Trump, there is no doubt that he was attuned to the sense of abandonment felt by a large number of Americans, grasped it, rode it all the way to the White House and is now putting the status quo to the sword.

Whoever seizes upon that same sentiment in this country can ride it all the way to The Lodge.

Originally published as Opinion: Our once-lucky country has descended into fear and loathing