In this passionate essay, Richard Denniss argues for a more pragmatic, consultative politics. He asks whether the major parties can find a new, and persuasive, way to talk about the national interest.

The author of Curing Affluenza looks at how neoliberalism ate itself and what comes next. For thirty years, we were told that privatisation and economic reform would be good for everyone. But now the results are in - we have seen public services undermined and corporations gaming the system. Damage has been done to the regional Australia, blue-collar workers and the collective ethos - a language of shared sacrifice has been degraded by lies.

As a result, we are seeing a political backlash against "reform." For the Coalition in particular, this is a threat to unity. In this passionate essay, Richard Denniss argues for a more pragmatic, consultative politics. He asks whether the major parties can find a new, and persuasive, way to talk about the national interest.

About the Author

Dr Richard Denniss was until recently the head of the Australia Institute, and is now its chief economist. He has spent the last twenty years moving between policy-focused roles in academia, federal politics and think-tanks. He is co-author of Affluenza and Minority Policy, the author of Econobabble, and writes regularly for the Australian Financial Review, the Canberra Times and the Monthly.