Once again, we find ourselves at the end of a tumultuous and hectic year.

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And while not everyone has seen noteworthy success or failure, some have seen their year go so well or badly they must be immortalised in this year's list of winners and losers.

The first winner, though with a late asterisk, is the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.

Not only did he win a crushing victory at the 2025 election, leaving his opponents on the left and the right in disarray, he even managed to get married.

Sure, his primary vote was low compared to previous election victories, but the outcome is determined on a two-party basis, not first past the post.

In fact, the fracturing of the electorate into minor parties is far more of a challenge to the Liberal Party than the Labor Party, if for no other reason than Labor has been dealing with the challenges of the Greens for some time now. They have experience in the cut and thrust of minor party politics.

Moreover, compared to the fractured and fractious parties on the right, the Greens are practically and model of order and discipline.

If there is an asterisk it comes from the appalling scenes at Bondi. It must be noted that, while it has become fashionable in American politics to blame political leaders for violence committed broadly within their coalition, there is no place for that in Australia.

However, the Prime Minister, his party and the broader left in Australian politics have undeniably downplayed legitimate concerns around rising anti-Semitism in order to appease parts of their base.

And some of that base is in fact anti-Semitic, however much they try to obscure their bigotry behind "legitimate complaints about the state of Israel".

As we have seen on the right in America, when left unchallenged,........

© Canberra Times