Nothing New Under the Sun: On Menzies, the Coalition and One Nation

“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, Vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun? A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever.”

King Solomon, the presumed author of this text, was known to be fantastically rich and wise, yet he opens this book of wisdom with an incredibly dour refrain.

Like Solomon, Australia as a society has a tremendous amount of wealth yet is to a large extent beset by hopelessness and a lack of confidence in our national heritage.

One way this can be observed is by the rapid decline of trust Australians have in our major political parties. During the 2001 federal election 80 per cent of Australians voted for either the Coalition or Labor. At the last federal election for the first time, fewer than two-thirds of Australians – just 66.4 per cent – voted for a major party.

Australians have begun turning to new political solutions, feeling unheard by establishment forces. In the Newspoll dated 13-16 July 2026 One Nation was tied with Labor for the largest party at 30 per cent of the primary vote, certainly a historic result for our time.