Parliament has descended into a mudslinging contest this week, with ministers scrambling for airtime to take personal jabs like it’s a sport.
The latest drama features Peter Dutton’s lucrative property investment history and stock market decisions. Labor has tried to discredit the opposition leader as out of touch with ordinary Australians. Meanwhile Dutton has accused Labor of powering up its “dirt unit”.
Voters don’t like this brand of politicking because it alienates them in two ways.
First, it reeks of economic detachment. When everyday Australians are struggling to stay afloat, watching politicians fighting over the profits of the housing and share markets feels like salt in the wound.
Second, it deepens political distrust. For young voters in particular, this spectacle confirms that politics is more theatre than substance.
Housing remains one of the biggest sore points for Australians, perhaps because it is so entrenched in our cultural identity. In times of rising interest rates and a cost-of-living crisis, politicians accumulating wealth – particularly through investment in real estate – understandably strikes a nerve.
This is because the economic equation for many Australians feels broken: hard work no longer guarantees you a home, or even financial security.
Dutton has defended his investment decisions and said he “didn’t grow up with a silver spoon” in his mouth. But this mindset ignores just how significantly the housing market, and therefore the distribution of wealth, has changed. As Greg Jericho points out, for anyone born before the mid-1970s, home ownership wasn’t about grit – it was about timing.
Sadly for many Australians, a home is out of reach, and even surviving has become a challenge. The number of Australians experiencing long-term homelessness has surged almost 25% in just five years. About 30% of Australians now find it difficult or very difficult to get by on their current income. And renters are drowning under a 36% rent hike nationally since the pandemic, with even middle-income earners spending a third of their income just to keep a roof over their heads.
But instead of serious policy discussions and solutions, politicians are turning to point scoring. In a time of economic hardship, this is especially unpalatable to voters.
Trust in parliament and federal leadership has been in steady decline since 2022, and this has been driven in part by a rise in financial stress. Nearly four in 10 Australians are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, and a staggering 62% have little to no confidence in the federal government.
Amid these figures, those struggling financially are more likely to be dissatisfied with the direction of the country and democracy, to be less trusting of politicians and key political institutions, and to feel shut out of the system. So negative campaigning – such as attacks on politicians’ wealth – can feel tone-deaf and entrench disillusionment even further.
With a federal election campaign just weeks away, politicians need to give people solutions. Australians are heading to the polls with cost of living, housing and healthcare as their top concerns. They want to feel as though the people in charge are trying to make these issues better.
The election will be a tight race, but voters deserve more than point scoring. At this stage leadership remains uninspiring, with neither major party offering much in the way of healthy, respectful and meaningful debate that breaks down complex political issues for voters and then convinces them that their respective policy offers a better relief for those under stress.
Without respectful dialogue, the risk of disengagement is real.
If politicians keep playing the blame game, they shouldn’t be surprised when fewer people bother to listen.
Dr Intifar Chowdhury is a youth researcher and a lecturer in government at Flinders University
