Three Shocks: Who We Are Becoming in the 21st Century

by George Megalogenis

For decades our politics has failed to keep up with a changing Australia. The federal elections of 2022 and 2025 were an overdue wake-up call to three shocks that have reshaped our national

- For the first time since federation, we have a population that's majority migrants and their children
- Professional women are now the largest segment of the workforce, replacing blue-collar men
- On the world stage, both our allies and our key trade partners have proven unreliable

Together, these shocks have changed the electoral maths for our politicians. For too long both major parties operated on outdated assumptions about Australia that go back to the Howard era.

With original interviews and research, Three Shocks tells the inside story of how our politicians caught up to the times or were left behind. Labor learned how to win again by embracing our new diversity; the Liberals suffered back-to-back landslide defeats that have threatened their very existence.

These three shocks will define our national politics in the future, but they should change how we all think about Australia and who we are becoming in the twenty-first century.

Audible Audio

Expected publication August 18, 2026

About the author

George Megalogenis has written three previous Quarterly Essays. His book The Australian Moment won the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Non-fiction and the 2012 Walkley Award for Non-fiction. He is also the author of Faultlines, The Longest Decade, Australia's Second Chance and The Football Solution.