“The weakness of the party has turned many like me away, and the years when they had the opportunity to do something are lost and behind us. The only way back is a deep cleaning cycle, and this will be painful.”
Well, the “deep cleaning cycle” began in 2022 and continued in 2025. The result? Australia is in a mess.
And “painful” doesn’t even begin to describe it.
It’s far more than painful for the more than 45,000 businesses that have entered administration or closed their doors. It’s more than painful for families struggling to keep a roof over their heads, food on the table and the lights on. It’s more than painful for those sleeping in cars, living on the streets or relying on overstretched food banks simply to survive. And it’s far more than painful for Australians trying to get ahead while facing an ever-increasing tax burden under the Labor government.
This is the price of voting to “teach the Liberals and Nationals a lesson”. Australia is now into its second term of a Labor government that, in my view, is systematically undermining the nation’s economic strength and prosperity. Yet sentiments like the quote above suggest some people are prepared to do it all over again. That is madness.
The lesson people think they are teaching political parties is, in reality, a punishment borne by the Australian people. And Australians have suffered. Worse still, Labor’s agenda is far from complete.
When voters become so consumed by their own grievances and narrow self-interests that they lose sight of the broader consequences of their vote, the entire nation pays the price. Governments change, policies change and economies change, but the damage inflicted on businesses, families and communities can take years—sometimes decades—to repair.
No political party is perfect. Every party deserves scrutiny and criticism. But voting out of spite, or to punish one side without properly considering the alternative, is a luxury a country can ill afford.
Yes, I am angry. Not because people voted differently to me, but because so many seemed more interested in “teaching a lesson” than in considering the long-term consequences for Australia. Political frustration is understandable. Political myopia is far more costly.
