By Peter Lewis
Publication Date: 2026-05-26 22:30:00
TThe annual budget presentation and response to the budget may have been presented as a dusty ritual, but the secret to understanding how it came about is to recognize that the world is changing, perhaps irrevocably.
We find ourselves in a new asymmetrical political competition in which a dominant party imposes its agenda on a fragmented polity, while a wounded opposition fends off a growing populist wave and a growing group of independents seeks to formalize their own coalition.
To the extent that the government has suffered a setback after the budget proposal, it is mainly due to the spread of inflammatory memes that emphasize virality over veracity.
The less than positive reviews in the general mood reflect both the overwhelming success of this guerrilla campaign and a general malaise at a time of ongoing economic crises well beyond the government’s control.
When you step back from the noise, the tune becomes clearer: Labor is exercising the power of the historic mandate it secured a year ago by expending political capital on…
