The Trump election has shaken the political establishment to its core. The collective wisdom of the insiders and their media acolytes was seriously out of step with the American people.
Last night I had the opportunity to attend a function with Trump campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway. Her insights into the Trump campaign strategy and their internal research versus public polling was enlightening.
Her comments reinforced just how out of touch the political and media bubble has become.
Unfortunately, it seems to be a global phenomenon and Australia is not immune. Very few of the political or media class were supportive of the Trump candidacy. Even senior members of the Liberal Party (the sister Party of the Republicans) openly supported the big taxing, big government agenda of Hillary Clinton over the tax cuts, deregulation and border security offered by the Trump camp.
That told me a lot about the attitude and motivations of many of your elected representatives. In supporting Clinton, they effectively declared that the system is working how they want it to and those that seek to change it are the lesser good.
But the system does need change. If we don’t our deficits will continue, the national debt will balloon, our economy will weaken, our culture will be diminished and our nation will suffer for it.
The demand for a different approach is swelling in Australia. People are voicing their discontent on social media and at the ballot box.
Around 40 per cent of voters didn’t support the two major parties at the last federal election, a statistic that should send shivers through their respective organisations.
My time in the United States has been invaluable not only in identifying some of the common problems evident in global politics but also in formulating solutions to help strengthen Australia.
There is so much we can learn from the experience of others and being present during this political campaign, whilst also seeing the inner workings of the United Nations, has been an incredible learning experience.
The next step is to put that knowledge to good use. I look forward to doing so in the years ahead.
Cory Bernardi is the author of seven books and has been a member of the Australian rowing team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and spent nearly 14 years as an Australian Senator.
