Why Political Optimism Has Become Scarce in Australia

Paul Keating this week told an audience in Sydney that governments are "afraid of change. This week's national accounts confirmed how stuck we are in a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours, to steal from English literature's greatest melancholy wobbler. It's doubtful Hamlet ever dwelt on the state of Denmark's real net national disposable income (RNNDI) per capita.

But if he had, he might have embraced what a downer it is. RNNDI is one of those measures that helps explain why voters look desperate to try new and "dangerous things, as the prime minister put it this week. He was referring to One Nation and its quickening political momentum around the country, where Pauline Hanson is eagerly harvesting the dark mood.