Even big business is walking crab wise away from what they have belatedly come to understand is a government that is no longer ‘fit for purpose’.

Similarly, it is now clear the National Party is no longer a true country party and even the ALP is no longer a ‘workers’ party.

Everything is in motion and it is difficult to say when and how things might settle into a new status quo.

As I have said before, when you are in the middle of a hinge moment in history you are peculiarly ill equipped to see the future clearly.

The only certainty is that it will not be the same as the past. Contrary to what our conservative political class hope and believe, there will be no return to ‘normality’ anytime soon.

All we can do is hang on and try to at least survive the ride through the maelstrom of change and chance that surrounds us. No one is steering anymore.

It is clearly the case that our ruling elites have no real idea about the situation they now find themselves in.

The pandemic has upended all sorts of previous ‘certainties’ and left them floundering about as they seek to grapple with the social divisions, inequalities, unfairness and inequities that it has thrown into such stark relief.

The broadly defined left of politics, which has been the historic agent of change in our democracies, is struggling to find a new and coherent narrative, especially in relation to economics.

In Australia, in the absence of a broadly agreed and compelling alternative to neo-liberal economics, the ALP is being very timid for fear of upsetting the swinging voters it needs to gain office.

Meanwhile, the reactionary right is fighting a rear guard action against various ‘progressive’ forces which its hates, notably in relation to gender, ethnicity, religion and the environment.

The yearning on the right for a ‘return’ to an imagined halcyon past is palpable.

Our contemptible Prime Minister has been dog whistling the far right of late through his constant references to Australians wanting their ‘freedom’ back.

This is because he needs their votes and fears they will go to One Nation or Clive Palmer’s wholly owned United Australia Party.

The population at large appears to realise the need for change but is easily frightened by the implications.

It is a classic example of people being very concerned about the status quo on such things as the environment and the economy, but afraid to take the leap into a new world for fear that it will cause them harm in some way.

There is an acute trust deficit in relation to the whole political class so the conservatives are pushing the ‘better the devil you know’ line as hard as they can go even as they fail on multiple fronts.

Trying to present Anthony Albanese as a scary revolutionary is a big ask though.

History suggests that big, societal level change is unthinkable right up until the moment it happens.

The conservatives are always on the wrong side of this process while the progressives are frequently wrong about how such changes will really work out.

The latter tend to overestimate the benefits involved without fully understanding the potential downsides while the conservatives do the exact reverse.

What is completely certain is that there will indeed be big changes, probably simply forced upon us by external circumstances.

If you make a conscious decision to cede control of events to others you ought not be too surprised if things work out in ways you neither intended or planned for.

This is the current government’s position even as they desperately seek to present an image of being in control of events.

Not an optimistic picture but a realistic one nonetheless.