You may not spend your days like me (and many people around me) closely following politics and the news cycle. Those of us who do are very worried about the state of our democracy and what this means for every Australian.
In multiple allied countries, authoritarianism is on the rise. Trump in the US, Farage through Reform in the UK – and of course here in Australia – Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party is very successfully tapping into understandable disgruntlement across the country with a similar playbook.
See Redbridge’s Alex Fein’s latest article titled “Call It What It Is: Foreign Interference”. The dots are there for all to see.
Zoe Daniel was a journalist for the ABC in the US during Trump’s first election around 2016. She was also the independent member for the federal seat of Goldstein from 2022 – 2025. Last week she wrote an article in The Guardian which outlines the timeline she saw in the US of Trump’s rise, based on her first hand experience and applied it to Pauline Hanson.
If you watched Pauline Hanson at the National Press Club as I did last week, you will have seen, based on Zoe’s timeline, that we are firmly in Stage 3; ie undermining journalism and avoiding those who will ask hard questions (Zoe’s Stage 1 and 2 continues and Stage 4 is well in sight).
As we also see in the US, the UK and elsewhere, many of the democratic checks and balances required to protect us from rising authoritarianism – such as the mainstream media, anti-corruption organisations and our Parliamentary system – are not playing their vital roles.
Billionaires, multinational organisations and the generally self interested increasingly influencing are falling in behind the rising powers of the day. It’s all depressingly predictable. We’ve been here before in history.
But there is hope – and that hope actually lies with each of us and asks us to lean in and engage with our democracy in whichever way we can.
None of us can do everything but all of us can do something.
Here are some suggestions of how you can help address the challenges we face in our democracy by getting actively involved:
Support independent news media
As a consequence of our highly concentrated mainstream media ownership landscape (and Gina Rinehart is buying more of it) – many Australian journalists and commentators have countered this by developing a fast growing, vibrant independent news landscape which is doing the heavy lifting in public interest journalism.TrueNorth is a free 4pm weekday newsletter where you can stay up to date with all the independent news of the day that matters.
Improve your media and information literacy
Unless you’re asleep, you likely have some kind of content coming at you from a variety of sources and on a variety of platforms. Be aware of the influences behind the news content you are consuming. Who owns the platform? what are their commercial interests? This is likely shaping the news they are creating and channeling to you.
When there is global unrest – go local
As concerning as world events are – there is little to no direct impact we can have at that level – but we can have a tangible impact locally. Is there a local political group which aligns with your views? A local Politics in the Pub event to attend? A local issue your community is speaking out about? (Many communities are acting against data centres now, as an example). Your active participation makes a difference. If there is no group in your area – start one! See Dawn’s Women’s Agenda Q&A where she outlines how she became actively involved in democracy in her local community.
Make an informed vote
We vote a lot, and it’s our precious vote that impacts every single thing we do. When you think about it – quite counterintuitively – we elect those who often act against our own best interests. There are some great resources which help all of us make an informed vote and elect people who will prioritise our interests. See the Democracy Action List here.
If you have a friend or relative who supports One Nation
Here is a worthwhile substack called My Cousin Votes One Nation – which gives advice on how to listen and communicate in a thoughtful and constructive way.
If you have a practical initiative to support our democracy then please send it through to me – and I will add to this Democracy Action List
Even though the highly politically engaged people I spend time with are very concerned about the state of our democracy, there are a lot of good people turning up every day working hard to address the issues we can all see. Your support, in whatever way you can manage, is needed, valuable and will make a difference.