Australia isn’t experiencing one populist surge, but two. In this episode of Curtin’s Cast, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras unpack new RedBridge and Accent Research polling revealing a striking political reality: under the same economic pressures, different generations are breaking in completely different directions.

Among financially stressed Gen X voters, One Nation is surging. Among Gen Z voters under that same pressure, the Greens are rising just as sharply. Same system. Same frustration. Completely different political outcomes.

This isn’t just volatility — it’s something deeper. The unravelling of the class-based political system that has defined Australia for more than a century.

But here’s the paradox: as the system fragments, Labor remains dominant. Why? Drawing on Nick’s ‘Trump Bump 2.0’ thesis, the episode explores how voters are shifting from blaming governments to asking a different question — who looks like the “adult in the room” in an age of global instability. Nick and Kos break down:

• Why Australia now has two competing populisms
• The generational divide reshaping politics
• Why One Nation is insurgent but not a governing force
• The Coalition’s accelerating collapse
• How Labor is holding on amid fragmentation
• Is class politics is being replaced by generation and education

This is a conversation about a political system coming apart — and what might replace it.