Originally labels for a person’s economic perspective, “left” and “right” have been transformed into social markers that are not only wielded as weapons in political discourse, but actually tell us very little about how someone will vote. In fact, most Australians prefer to call themselves “centrist” regardless of their beliefs. So does the left-right political spectrum still apply to Australian politics in 2026?

That’s the question debated in today’s episode by Crikey politics editor Bernard Keane and RedBridge Senior Insights Adviser Alex Fein. We cover the generational divides, economic transformation and total erosion of trust that has almost all voters, from orange to blue to red, united against the “ruling class”.

So, what’s the alternative? And does it even matter? 

N.B.: The quote at 44:36 is by Nobel Prize winning economist Robert Lucas.

Read more:

• Are ‘left’ and ‘right’ useful anymore or do we need a new political alignment?
• Left and right, forward and back, in and out: labels for a new political world
• The Political Compass
• Alex Fein: Polarisation is a Myth

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