DrAlex Vickery-Howehopes the 48th Parliament of Australia works hard to address impending environmental collapse and close the wealth gap.

HE WON.

Easily.

We cheered.

And then he approved agas plant.

Running up to the recent election, I wasall infor Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese. Well, alright, I voted for the Greens... but Albo got my preferences. I like him very much. Theres just one tiny blot on his record.

Okay, a big blot.

A smudge.

Australias reliance on imported goods masks the true scale of its carbon footprint and lets us off the hook for pollution we helped create.

The environment is still suffering. Has the Albanese Government fulfilleda core election promisefrom last time and prioritised renewables over fossil fuel lobbyists? Not iftheir own MPsare to be believed, and not at all judging by the 28 newcoal and gas projectsapproved by Labor since taking office. Did I say 28? Sorry,make that 30. This is the sort of hypocrisy that wears down a voter base.

Australian authorTim Wintonrecently had this to say:

Winton is the roll up your sleeves and get back to nature type and he has directly witnessed the environmental decay evident in Australian waters; Im the wear a long coat and brood over coffee type but I have visited Australias Great Barrier Reef and seen the coral-bleaching our government the Right and the Left has allowed. It is indeed shameful.

Before we lie to ourselves and suggest the Greens have been effective on this front, lets remember that it was the Greens whorejected a carbon pricing schemein 2009 and demonstrated Voltaires adage thatthe perfect is the enemy of the good. Australia would, in fact, have stronger climate policy in 2025 were it not for the leftist idealism of 2009. That irony is not lost on me. It demonstrates the complexity of party politics.

Disappointment wont stop me from casting a vote for the Greens in the future, especially ifthe loss of Adam Bandtmarks a return to the policies and approach of founding Greens leader and former SenatorBob Brown. I do think they have some internal work to do, though. Branding Albanese a Nazi was inexcusable.

If one genuinely cares about our planets future, reality dictates introspection. TheTeal Independentsare now best positioned to progress the climate cause. A cluster of centre-right and centre-centre politicians, the Teals are a growing force in Australia. They stood asthe most credible bulwarkagainst a possiblepower grabfrom ex-cop and arch-conservative former Leader of the OppositionPeter Dutton, a manoften comparedby his critics and by Australian journalists to Harry Potters nemesis and tormentor, Lord Voldemort. Unfairly, I say.Voldemort had charisma.

The reluctance of Australia's two major parties to fix our environmental disasters feels like a state of collective madness.

ADutton triumphwould have been tough to watch anda reductive swervefor the country. I havent lost my mind and Id sooner grow an extra head myself than vote for any fundamentalist, anti-environment, anti-immigration, pro-MAGA, pro-nuclear, ultra-right Coalition head kicker. What I will do in the aftermath of the Coalitions crushing but no doubt temporary defeat is acknowledge political and ideological complexity.

The idealist in me will keep voting for the Greens; the realist in me will be watching the Tealspull the Death Eatersto the centre.

What about working-class people, thetraditional leftist base? Are they happy? No. Not close. The outrageouscost of livingin Australia (good luck buying a house if youre under 60 and not related to King Charles) is one obvious reason for widespread discontent, but I think therot runs deeperthan hip pockets.

Thomas Chatterton Williams, writing forThe Atlantic, asked the difficult question that underpins the global swing to the Far-Right:

It is this question, stark in its stink of failed promise, that has led to a sharp rise in cynicism among many of those in Australia who face tangible economic and social disadvantage, some of whom areexcluded from the conversationthe Left enjoys with its own, disillusioned with grandstanding, ordownright discriminated against. In a rush to prosecute microaggressions, we, the Left, have, rather conveniently, forgotten to take an honest look at authentic class dynamics and the cruelty that clings to them. That negligence is on us.

Maybe thats another blot. Another smudge. Were stillleaving people behind.

For a party that should have the environment at the top of its priority list, the Greens seem to have abandoned biodiversity loss in favour of other policies.

Williams outlines the hope and the promise ofa kinder, friendlier, more inclusive and equitable world for all (often paradoxically by means of shaming, coercion, and intimidation). I agree that it is precisely this paradox, coupled with an almost medieval thirst for public shame; a failureto incorporate classas a marker of identity and cultural perspective; the pursuit of personal power in the name of caring; an insincere approach to empathy and openness;veiled ambition; selective compassion; and lashings of good, old-fashioned snobbery that led tothe anti-woke backlashin the U.S. and senta convicted felonall the way back to hisnewly gildedWhite House.

I see that same trend reflected in my home country. So, unfortunately, did Peter Dutton.

Comfortable leftists floating in bubbles didnt stop Duttons Coalition from seizing power in Australia. Labors win was in the centre, where we have a lot ofclass mending to do. It is in this way that global events have underpinned the election campaign andthe lessons from these eventsmust be adopted by left and centre-left parties. Even as a Greenie, I see that there are resentments still boiling. There will be another Dutton and the next one may have a personality.

Our Prime Minister and Im bloody glad its Albo must acknowledge the widening gap between not only rich and poor, buthoused and homeless. They must also acknowledge that the noise ofthe so-called culture warshas become a handy weapon for right-wing orators to wield, while alienating the working class (you know, the base the Left was founded to support). Somehow, the conversation has to return to material disadvantage. People are struggling to pay their bills. People cant afford to eat.

Do you know whyDuttons advertisementsabout the price of everything were so galling for many working-class voters? Because those are the exact ads Labor wouldve run in the 80s and 90s. Nobody cared that they featured paid actors (theyre ads, not documentaries), but they care that someone is talking about the plight of working people. Economic hardship should be at the heart of leftist rhetoric. Its sad that it no longer is.

With the world's governments proving inept towards combating the climate crisis, it's up to us to change our ways of life to save the planet.

Dont get me wrong. I dont want the Coalition back.

A Coalition win is a win for live exports and I dont want to see another ship full of emaciated sheepsent off to die. A Coalition win is a win for a nuclear power station in Australia and my Japanese friends haveplentyto sayon that topic.

A Coalition win, more insidiously, is a win for the global spread of the Far-Right that has seen U.S. PresidentDonald Trumpdisrespect the memory of those who died defending democracy on6 January, the annexation of Canada somehow evolve from a despots fever dream to a serious Republican policy and U.S. Vice-PresidentJD Vanceopenly support the far-rightAlternative for Germany Partythe actual Nazis without mainstream America condemning him. Not to mention therecent invasionof Los Angeles.

Duttons pandering to Trumpism didnt win through, and now the Centre-Left will get a chance to return to power and prove that its a movement that still cares about the environment, housing, families, protecting the Reef and supporting working people. All my fingers and toes are crossed that the political capital wont be squandered in Australia as it was in the U.S. Many of us thought the Far-Right died the morningPresident Biden was elected. We were idiots.

I remain a committed leftist and a Greenie, even if Im aware of my bubble and its limitations. I remain cautiously optimistic that every new parliament is a new opportunity. I welcome Prime Minister Albaneses return to office.

But I still believe Labor as a party and Australia as a nation can do a hell of a lot better.

DrAlex Vickery-Howeis an award-winning playwright and social commentator. He teaches creative writing, screen and drama atFlinders University.

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