Is Australia entering a new political era?

With a record majority off a near record low primary vote, the new parliament continues the rise of new electoral coalitions, unsettling our assumptions about class, gender, race, and power.

Join our stellar panellists George Megalogenis, Frank Bongiorno, Elizabeth Humphrys, Ben Spies-Butcher, and Emily Foley for a wide-ranging discussion on the future of Australian democracy, exploring whether we’re witnessing a rupture or a realignment, and what it means for political life in Australia today.

How is the traditional party duopoly is being eroded under pressure from shifting demographics, growing economic inequality, and increasing political disillusionment?

And what happens when the working class no longer feels represented, while younger, more diverse voters don't see themselves reflected in the major parties?

This episode is brought to you by the Australian Political Studies Association in partnership with the Social and Political Sciences Discipline at the University of Technology Sydney.

Speakers

George Megalogenis is an author and journalist with over thirty years’ experience in the media, including over a decade in the federal parliamentary press gallery. His latest Quarterly Essay, Minority Report, explores the strategies and secret understandings of a political culture under pressure.

Frank Bongiorno is based at the Australian National University and author of several works of Australian history, including The Eighties: The Decade That Transformed Australia (2015) and Dreamers and Schemers: A Political History of Australia (2022). He is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and the Australian Academy of Humanities.

Elizabeth Humphrys is the Head of Discipline of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. She researches the impact of economic crisis and climate change on workers. Her book How Labour Built Neoliberalism was described in the Sydney Review of Books as a ‘tremendously important’ contribution to understanding economic change in Australia’s recent past.

Ben Spies-Butcher is an Associate Professor of Economy and Society at Macquarie University. He is the Deputy Director of the Macquarie University Housing and Urban Research Centre and Co-Director of the Australian Basic Income Lab. His most recent book is Politics, Inequality and the Australian Welfare State After Liberalisation with Anthem Press.

Emily Foley is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Canberra and Flinders University. Her research focuses on social democratic and centre-left parties, focusing on party politics, political organisation, and participation in Australia. Her work also explores immigration policy-making and labour rights, with an interest in the intersection of democratic governance and social justice.

Impact Talks at UTS is brought to you by Impact Studios.

How do we design cities that are both sustainable and deeply liveable? Christian Bason, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology Sydney and one of Europe’s leading voices in public sector innovation, brings a unique perspective to this question.

Drawing on his research in design for societal challenges and his leadership roles in government and civic innovation, Bason explores how design can be a driver of systemic urban change.

From Europe’s New European Bauhaus movement, which is embedding sustainability and aesthetics into the heart of policy, to the radical redesign of Copenhagen - now ranked among the world’s most liveable cities - Bason describes how design thinking can accelerate the shift toward more resilient urban systems. He also shares insights from Thoravej 29, his base of work and Denmark’s most sustainable building renovation to date, which serves as a hub for social innovation and collaboration. Together, these case studies illustrate a roadmap for global cities seeking to navigate the transition toward thriving, sustainable urban futures.

Bason's work has consistently bridged the worlds of academia, policymaking, and practice, demonstrating that sustainable transformation requires more than technology or policy alone, but also a deep cultural and design-led reimagining of how we live together in cities.

Other speakers in this episode include:

• Her Excellency Ingrid Dahl-Madsen, Danish Ambassador to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji
• Eamon Waterford, CEO, Committee for Sydney
• Dr Leanne Sobel, Adjunct Fellow at UTS Business School and Director Strategic Design at Snowmelt
• Jua Cilliers, Professor of Urban Planning and Associate Dean at UTS Faculty of Design and Society
• Prof Martin Tomitsch, Professor & Head of the UTS Transdisciplinary School | Strategic Design | Researcher in Future Technologies, Human-Computer Interaction and Responsible Innovation

This event and episode were brought to you by The Committee for Sydney and UTS.

Impact Talks at UTS is an Impact Studios podcast.

What does it mean to be “alive” in an age of automation, synthetic biology, and artificial environments?

How do artistic practices challenge dominant narratives about life, nature, and control?

And if compost, tissue culture, and data can form a new cycle of life, what might that say about our future?

In this thought-provoking episode, artist and researcher Ionat Zurr delivers a keynote that traverses three decades of collaborative bio-art practice. From growing semi-living worry dolls to lab-grown meat and leather, Zurr interrogates the ethics, aesthetics, and implications of creating life in controlled environments. Her ecofeminist lens critiques patriarchal and capitalist ideologies that reduce life to code and commodify biological processes.

Stella Rosa McDonald, curator of UTS Gallery, introduces the All That Is Alive exhibition and symposium, highlighting its regenerative themes and the museum as a living system shaped by care and memory.

Aunty Rhonda Dixon Grovenor, Gadigal elder, opens the event with a powerful Welcome to Country and two evocative poems celebrating the gifts of nature—water, sun, wind, and earth—and the importance of gratitude and connection.

All That is Alive is an iterative touring exhibition co-commissioned by UTS Gallery & Art Collection and La Trobe Art Institute. It brings together 12 Australian artists and collectives working with living systems. You can visit the exhibition at the UTS Gallery until 12 December 2025.