I share a frustration I suspect many in the West feel – when did it become so hard to call things as they are?

Australians pride themselves on being straight shooters. They say they’ll ‘call a spade a spade’. But what does that mean anymore?

These days, speaking plainly can get you cast out. Barely a day passes without someone in public life being denounced – not for malice, but for failing to show the prescribed reverence to the latest orthodoxy. This isn’t civility. It’s coercion. Make no mistake: what we’re facing isn’t a polite call for decency – it’s the barbed-wire fist of authoritarianism wrapped in the velvet glove of tolerance.

If our civilisation is to endure, we must ask: What will it take, and who will have the courage to act?

Australians rightly look back with fond nostalgia on the Prime Ministership of Bob Hawke. Here was a man who spoke to middle Australia while moving easily through the heights of elite society. He had a storied personal life, drank like a fish, swore like a trucker, and fired up when his values were tested. And he never apologised for any of it. Australians loved him for that. All of it.

Could a modern Bob Hawke survive today? Just imagine the headlines over his temperament behind closed doors. His romantic dalliances. The drinking. The only thing more legendary than his beer-skolling record would be the queue of people demanding his cancellation.

When did we lose our tolerance for imperfection? Are we really a nation of moral purists – offended by swearing, drinking, or a complicated past? Or has the very idea of moral purity been hijacked by those who seek control, not virtue?

In the lead-up to the millennium, John Howard was asked what he hoped Australians would feel as the 21st Century approached. He answered with stoic clarity:

‘An Australian nation that feels comfortable and relaxed about three things: about their history, about their present, and the future.’

Twenty-five years into the new millennium, how’s that hope holding up from our 25th Prime Minister?

1. History: Australians are told to be ashamed of Australia Day – it marks the beginning not of nationhood, but of genocide and colonisation.
2. Present: In the year 2000, the national median house cost 3.1× the median income. Government debt was around 20 per cent of GDP. Government spending: 20-22 per cent.
3. Future: Today, those same figures are 8x, 31.7 per cent, and 32 per cent. And that’s before factoring in the new orthodoxy: that we face a climate emergency requiring urgent deindustrialisation.

At the time of writing, Howard got one out of his three wishes.

Australia didn’t stumble into malaise – it was led there.

One shallow decision at a time. One moral concession at a time.

Since Howard, we’ve had leaders who govern by poll and apologise by reflex.

That needs to end here.

Let’s say the quiet part out loud.

We are a country of plenty – envied by the world. It’s time we embraced the blessings of our civilisation and stopped apologising for our success.

So, what will it take? Leadership! The kind of leadership which will say the quiet part out loud. Specifically, we are all Australian, regardless of whether you came here 40,000 years ago, or just last week, it is time to focus on what unites us rather than what divides us.

So what does unite us? Beyond the political soundbites which sound nice. Respect for the rule of law. Belief in the dignity of a fair go. A baseline tolerance for your fellow Australian who you might otherwise disagree with. Being proud of our history and our place in the world whilst still acknowledging and learning from the pain and suffering endured. The story of Australia is a force for net good.

The 2025 election will go down in history not for the victory against the odds achieved by Albanese, but for being an inflection point in our history when we consciously chose to continue to worship at the altar of mediocrity. If a government is a reflection of the will of the people, what does that say about us? Can anybody actually articulate for me what this Prime Minister’s vision of the country is? I can’t.

We can and should deserve better.

Let’s begin by clearly articulating that we are all Australians irrespective of our heritage. By saying that we welcome migrants with open arms to the extent our physical and economic capacities allow. But if you come here and openly choose to break our laws and condemn our culture, then the response will be harsher than hollow condemnations cheered on by the ABC.

Let’s acknowledge that we have to make some difficult decisions in the face of the energy transition, AI integration and letting our youth get their fair go at the housing market.

None of these are going got be easy to do. And they will polarise. Unlike John Howard, I don’t believe Australians should be relaxed about the future. But I absolutely believe we can be confident about it if we start demanding our politicians do better and fight the fights we need to have.