{"id":663644,"date":"2022-05-20T10:10:17","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T10:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/?p=74418"},"modified":"2022-05-20T10:10:17","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T10:10:17","slug":"australians-face-their-starkest-choice-at-the-ballot-box-in-50-years-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/05\/20\/australians-face-their-starkest-choice-at-the-ballot-box-in-50-years-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Australians face their starkest choice at the ballot box in 50 years. Here\u2019s why"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANALYSIS:<\/strong> By<\/em> Mark Kenny<\/a>, Australian National University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

You first have to lose an election on principle if you want to win one on principle.<\/p>\n

This was how Labor rationalised the miscalculations that led to its \u201cDon\u2019s Party\u201d disappointment in 1969<\/a>, followed by the 1972 triumph<\/a> of the \u201cIt\u2019s Time\u201d campaign.<\/p>\n

Half a century later, the idea of sticking with unpopular policy seems romantic, unthinkable. Principles are not just old-hat in an era of professionalised politics, but absurd.<\/p>\n