Watching the election from afar, I can’t help but wonder – is this really the best Australia can do? | Hugh Riminton

This is the most dismal election in decades .

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton know that Australia is slowly being cooked.

Without fundamental, sensible reforms, Australia is on the early stages of the structural path that leads ultimately towards the malaise that has befallen America .

Unless the incoming pope declares Catholicism compulsory and birth control verboten, Australia will never again be a society that is not weighted towards the aged.

None of the political offerings does more than play with the edges, and half of them super for deposits, shared equity schemes, etc simply add to the demand side, pushing prices still higher. Once that hope is lost, the ground will become ripe for populism, and divisions will start to bake in. The time to get moving is now. But it is already clear 2025 is not the year , or the cycle, that will see it happen. Sometimes taking a break is useful, just to see what’s staring you in the face. - Hugh Riminton is national affairs editor at Channel 10 .