Extremism is all the rage. But there’s a moment that will truly test Shoebridge and Hanson

October 10, 2026 — 5:00am

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Going hard and going extreme is all the rage. We’ve got the Greens returning to Labor-bashing mode by installing the hard-left lawyer David Shoebridge as leader. His stated aim is for the Greens to replace the Labor Party. And the Coalition is trying to ape Pauline Hanson via Angus Taylor’s promise of “the biggest cut to immigration in the history of this country”, that slogan being the only bit of his policy announcement intended to stick in the public mind. It’s easy to see the appeal. One Nation’s recent experience highlights the possible rewards on offer.

But will this overheated style make it through to 2028 and survive the rigours and scrutiny of an election campaign? True, the orthodox party system that has toggled between centre-right and centre-left alternatives has never appeared to be under this much strain at the national level.

However, even allowing for the way that three-year electoral terms have encouraged the descent of federal politics into one ceaseless campaign, that system still counts for something in the wider public imagination. Those of us who look at politics for a living don’t need to peer too far back into the past to be reminded how public sentiment can rearrange itself once an election is called.

Let’s look back at oh, I don’t know – last year? In the early months of 2025, with........

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