The election is done and dusted. Some people are delighted with the result, some relieved and some disappointed, as happens every cycle. But our system has worked and all of us should be happy that our democracy seems to be in good shape.

The same is no longer true in many other countries. Indeed, we are starting to be talked about as a global outlier; a rare Western democracy that is not fighting off looming threats from populist right-wing parties. If watching what happens when one of those populists manages to win has taught us anything, it is that democracy is fragile.

The sausage sizzle at Saint George’s Church voting centre in Paddington, NSW.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Perhaps that is why I see the increasing energy around our elections as largely a good thing. And perhaps as others have worked that out, too, that’s why there is so much more buzz – both positive and negative – around them.

It seems we can no longer afford to think that compulsory voting and an independent Australian Electoral Commission – important as they are – are protection enough, and that all we need to do every three........

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