What do Australians want most from their next government? In this vivid, grounded, surprising essay, Rebecca Huntley listens to the people and hears a call for change. 
Too often we focus on the angry, reactionary minority. But, Huntley shows, there is also a large progressive centre. For some time, a clear majority have been saying they want action – on climate and energy, on housing and inequality, on corporate donations and the corruption of democracy.

Would a Shorten Labor government rise to this challenge? What can be learnt from the failures of past governments? Was marriage equality just the beginning? In Australia Fair, Rebecca Huntley reveals the state of the nation and makes the case for democratic renewal – should the next government heed the call.

“Often the claim is made that our politics and politicians are poll-driven. This is, on the whole, bunkum. If polls were influential, we would have invested much more in renewable energy, maintained and even increased funding to the ABC, and made child care cheaper. We may already have made changes to negative gearing and moved towards adopting elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. We would have taken up the first iteration of the Gonski education reforms. These are some of the issues where a democratic majority comes together, a basic agreement crossing party lines.” Rebecca Huntley, Australia Fair

A dazzling and insightful look at the forthcoming federal election, built from pen portraits and reports from the campaign trail.

In Quarterly Essay 74, Erik Jensen considers what has gone wrong for the Coalition, and what prospects it has for renewal or collapse. He looks at Labor’s strengths and weaknesses, and what kind of government it might form.

Through interviews and close observation, Jensen homes in on the meaning of a transformative election. Are we seeing the last days of the Liberal Party? Is Labor capable of forging a new accord for the nation? Does anyone have an answer to the voters’ disgust with politics as usual?

What would equality look like when it comes to gender and work? What are some steps that would bring it closer?

With her characteristic wit and good sense, Annabel Crabb looks at the changing world of work. Starting with politics – the responses to Jacinda Ardern, Julie Bishop, Hillary Clinton and more – she moves on to discuss what would make a better and fairer society for both men and women, discussing everything from parental leave to social expectations.

“One of the things that continues always to intrigue me is the way politics reflects us back to ourselves. The way expectations of how women and men who are public figures will behave is often a miniaturised, diamond-hard replica of the expectations we distribute more generally … We are all at the mercy of these subterranean expectations, but they can be changed. All you need is leadership, and explicit permission.”