Can a ‘Trumpist’ approach to politics work in Australia?

By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University

In one of their typically literary sketches, 1990s comedy duo Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie asked if Adolf Hitler’s fanatical racist oratory would have been as charismatic if delivered in English.

It’s a joke that has no answer, of course, but there is little doubt that national characteristics including history, public debate and electoral institutions have framed the way politics is discussed in notionally open societies.

Political actors venturing beyond these informal boundaries have courted controversy…

Read complete article

~	Cuba: Amnesty International designates four persons as prisoners of conscience in the midst of a new wave of state repression

~	Majority of NZ researchers see Māori Indigenous knowledge as relevant to their work – but there is a gender divide

~	Australia’s points system for jobseekers is failing 4 in 10, putting their payments at risk

~	Oman: New Social Security Law Step in the Right Direction

~	Uganda: Criminalization shrinks online civic space for LGBTQ people – report

~	Let’s tax carbon: Ross Garnaut on why the time is right for a second shot at carbon pricing

~	Andrew Garfield and Elmo are going viral with their moving chat. Celebrities can help us talk about grief

~	New research shows problematic community attitudes allow child sexual abuse to continue

~	Should a big tech tax fund news? A new report reopens debate on platforms and media

~	Israel’s actions in Gaza, backed by the US, are shaking the world order to its core