So it’s understandable if the news of late-night political antics surrounding some of society’s most taboo subjects — sex and religion — made them feel nauseous, not to mention prejudice against vulnerable young people.
The majority of Australians would be content to live their lives unaffected by the political games that are frequently conducted in the federal parliament.
You could also suppose that the majority of Australians were more concerned about other issues when they awoke this morning, such as the price of fuel, whether the store had completely filled shelves, whether their children would contract COVID, or whether they would ever be able to purchase a home.
Elections, as the Clinton campaign famously put it, are “all about the economy, stupid.” So, on the eve of an election, how did the House of Representatives sit for an incredible amount of time debating reforms to religious liberty as if it were the greatest threat confronting Australians? At its core, this is a story about politics and finding a solution to a problem.
They’ve gotten themselves tangled up in their own wedge.
The federal Coalition is attempting to wedge Labor in suburban electorates where the election will be decided, in the hopes of campaigning against the opposition as anti-religious – a strategy that worked well in 2019.
A political wedge, on the other hand, requires everyone on your side to sing from the same hymn sheet. The Liberal Party prides itself on being a broad church. However, when five of your own cross the floor to join the opposition and crossbench, you begin to suspect that these Liberals are of a different denomination on this topic.
