The stereotype is that the Liberals are the party of the bosses, while Labor with its union links is the party of the workers... But what if this conventional setup was changing before our eyes? OPINION from Ross Gittins
Here’s a funny thing to think about on a holiday Monday: what if all the well-educated people voted Labor and the lowly-educated voted Liberal or National? How would that change our politics? A preposterous notion? Not as much as you may think.
The better-situated, better-off suburbs in any city tend to vote Liberal, while the inner and outer, less-desirable suburbs vote Labor. Most people living in country areas and voting for the Nationals tend to be on modest incomes, similar to the stereotypical Labor voter. “Rich, educated professionals swung 11 to 12 per cent against the Coalition, while the country’s working poor - the fifth of polling booths paying the lowest rent, earning the lowest incomes and with the least skills - swung only 3 to 4 per cent against it.”
The trend from the 2019 federal election, where the Coalition’s support base has shifted towards poorer, less-skilled, less-educated people born in Australia, has continued.Metcalfe finds that “we’re seeing a continuation of the trend in the [2019] federal election, where the Coalition’s support base is shifting towards poorer, less-skilled, less-educated people born in Australia”.
Unsurprisingly, income and education are highly correlated. But Metcalfe says it’s education, not income, that’s doing the driving. But it still gets down to education and the way ever-rising levels of educational attainment - particularly among women – are remodelling the party-political landscape.
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