The Rest Is Politics

Podbit · The Rest Is Politics

549. Mamdani’s Wrecking Ball and the Rise of Anti-Migrant Vigilantes

Explore episode Jul 1, 2026
News
Australia's Political Earthquake: One Nation, Teals, and the Coming Liberal Civil War

549. Mamdani’s Wrecking Ball and the Rise of Anti-Migrant V… · Jul 1, 2026 News

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party is now polling her as preferred prime minister in some surveys, while the Liberal Party has made Tony Abbott — a Malcolm Turnbull nemesis — its honorary president, signalling a hard-right turn. Meanwhile, a new centrist party inspired by the Teal independents is forming, and Andrew Hastie has declared war on One Nation rather than trying to outflank them.

2m 50s

Where this was said

Malcolm Turnbull, Australia's New Centrist Party, and the Liberal Party's Hard Right Turn

At 33:30 · chapter starts 33:00

Rory Stewart plugs the hosts' interview with Malcolm Turnbull on the companion podcast 'Leading', framing the former PM as a centrist conservative he's come to admire. The question from listener Noah asks how significant Australia's new centrist party is and whether something similar could happen in the UK. The political landscape has shifted dramatically: One Nation, once written off because compulsory and preferential voting disadvantaged minor parties, is now polling Pauline Hanson as preferred prime minister in some surveys. The Liberal Party's appointment of Tony Abbott — a Turnbull nemesis — as honorary president signals a hard-right turn, and Alastair Campbell predicts current Liberal leader Angus Taylor won't survive, tipping former SAS officer and big-thinker Andrew Hastie as a future leader. Hastie, crucially, has 'declared war' on One Nation rather than trying to out-flank them from the right — a contrast to the pattern seen elsewhere.

Society & Culture
Rory's Grandmother's Secret Diary: A 100-Year-Old Love Story

549. Mamdani’s Wrecking Ball and the Rise of Anti-Migrant V… · Jul 1, 2026 Society & Culture

Rory Stewart discovered his grandmother's diary written almost exactly 100 years ago — a frank, racy account of her love life and thoughts on marriage in late 1920s London. The family didn't know it existed. It ends with her marriage to his grandfather, the act that eventually produced Rory himself.

3m 50s

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