Political journalist George Megalogenis thinks our politicians are in a “race to the bottom” as they become more dependent on polls and focus groups as the 24-hour news cycle makes them more vulnerable to the vagaries of public opinion. Former Labor member for Melbourne Lindsay Tanner engages Megalogenis on how politics is being played out today.
Megalogenis looks at how our politicians are now in “the business of winning” as the policy contest has become a dull draw. “The thing now with all this noise around is who can think their way through a campaign period and actually govern with some authority?” Megalogenis asks. He believes reform has all but disappeared from the political agenda since the turn of the millennium, while Tanner sees a great Australian complacency in politics.