The progressive agenda has for better or worse taken center stage for those on the left and while it is important , in this environment it is a political mistake . To be completely frank with you historically and politically speaking there is a time and a place for progressive issues to take center stage , this is usually when the economy is going along at a good clip and people feel safe and secure in their position financially and socially . In the here and now Australia is faced with Increasingly underemployment Unemployment figures aren ' t worth the paper they ' re written on as said by the former head of the ABS not some tinfoil hat wearer Housing affordability by traditional metrics is at an all time low A welfare system that is fundamentally broken , just ask any Centrelink employee or payment recipient . Nearly 200 , 000 homeless Australians 750 , 000 Australian children living in poverty . There is a veritable laundry list of problems and this is just a small sample . Have a progressive agenda sure I never disputed that it was important , but by the same token we have massive systemic problems in this country that are getting little to no air time while Di Natale and Shorten go on TV to discuss things like the Safe schools program . Once again I ' m not saying these aren ' t important issues merely that the electorate doesn ' t care about them when they ' re worrying about making rent this week or being able to afford a new pair of school shoes for their child . The left needs to realize this otherwise they will lose what political clout and relevance they have as the political center is dragged even further to the right . Disclaimer I hold progressive libertarian views and on a personal note its a fucking travesty that we are even having this discussion , the left never should of allowed things to get this bad and I hope that the Australian left will learn from the American lefts mistakes before we have a Trump moment of our own . Edit Fixed up crap articulation of my point .