Conversations
Conversations
ABC Australia
The three shocks that changed Australia
53 minutes Posted Aug 19, 2026 at 3:30 am.
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Show notes
Political journalist, George Megalogenis has mapped key areas in our population, workforce and geopolitical standing in recent decades, and looks at how these shifts are impacting our collective political future.
For the first time since Federation, Australia’s population is mostly made up of migrants and their children. 
Professional women have now replaced men doing blue collar jobs as the largest segment of the workforce.
And on the world scale, Australia can no longer rely on our traditional allies or trading partners.
These three elements have already changed the political landscape in our country, and this will only continue as time goes on.
 
Further information
Three Shocks: Who we are becoming in the 21st Century is published by Penguin Random House.
This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan and the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.
It covers auspol, populism, John Howard, Paul Keating, Harold Holt, Pauline Hanson, One Nation, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Western Australia, parliament, teals, Higgins, Bennelong, Chinese-Australians, Peter Costello, First Nations, Federation, convicts, migration, White Australia policy, one parent born overseas, census, data, graphs, data journalism and Prime Ministers.
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