The April 26 Edition

When Jacinta Price vowed to “make Australia great again” earlier this month, the crowd fell silent for a moment. The NT senator’s Trumpist reference may have worked a treat six months ago, but it has now become an election liability. Donald Trump’s rise has been blamed, in part, on the US Democrats’ poor job of talking to working-class voters. Labor faces similar challenges here, largely because its base has transformed over the past few decades – demographically, culturally and, yes, financially. As writer Gay Alcorn points out in her compelling cover story this week, once-rusted-on Labor seats, like Werriwa in Sydney and Werribee in Melbourne, have suffered significant losses in support for the party. As the son of working-class parents, both of whom worked in factories all their lives and never owned property, I’ve noticed a sense of grievance today that wasn’t there in the past. One thing hasn’t changed: these voters want a party and a leader who listens, and who’ll stand up to the big end of town – especially billionaires who claim they don’t belong to the “elites” themselves. Greg Callaghan, acting editor.