If Annabel Doherty’s “Are we the baddies?” (New England Times, 19 Feb 2026) and R.K. Crosby’s ‘Hey Angus, we’re the problem’ (New England Times, 16 Feb 2026) didn’t make you at least a little uncomfortable, you probably didn’t read it properly.
Both pieces are sure to spark lively discussion in our community. Whether people agree with pieces like mine, Annabel’s or R.K. Crosby’s or not, columns like these serve a real purpose: they push debate beyond slogans, memes and personality politics. In a region like New England, where politics is often shaped by personality and protest rather than policy, that kind of engagement matters.
Like Annabel, I get the dark humour in the political theatre of Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson. The jokes are easy. What’s harder is acknowledging that their rhetoric resonates with people we live and work alongside. Anger is real. Disillusionment is real. And frustration with politics — including with Labor — is real, whether it’s warranted or not. Pretending otherwise only deepens the divide and hands more oxygen to those who trade in outrage and easy villains.
I agree with some of Annabel’s critique of the Albanese Government. And yes, I say that as a Labor Party member. There are areas where Labor has been too cautious, too slow, or too willing to compromise — on climate ambition, integrity and transparency, gambling advertising reform, disability policy and tackling entrenched inequality. Saying that out loud is not disloyalty. It’s exactly what joining a party and pushing motions to improve policy direction is about — people who care about a party’s values expecting it to live up to them.
But it’s also important to be honest about what has been achieved. Labor inherited an economy hit by global inflation, supply chain shocks and energy price spikes — and has tried to blunt the impact on households. Strengthening Medicare and expanding bulk billing, delivering energy bill relief, making childcare cheaper, investing in fee-free TAFE and skills, lifting wages in aged care, beginning the long, overdue task of rebuilding public services, and restoring some basic integrity to government after years of erosion are not nothing. Nor is the work on housing supply and industrial relations reform to lift wages after a decade of institutional hollowing-out.
You can acknowledge these gains and still argue that Labor should be braver. The reality is Labor is expected to be bolder and braver — and is too often held to a higher standard — but that’s not a flaw. It’s the price of claiming to stand for fairness and progress, and it’s a standard worth holding.
One of the main reasons I joined the Labor Party was so I could have some input into policy direction, not just shout from the sidelines. Last weekend in Orange, at the NSW Labor Country Conference, there was robust policy debate and real discussion with ministers, MPs and MLCs. Several delegates from Tamworth and Armidale, including myself, spoke on issues directly affecting New England, and announcements were made that will have real impacts in the region. Is it perfect? No. Does it always move as fast as I’d like? Also no. But getting involved means you can help facilitate change. If you opt out, politics doesn’t stop — it just happens to you, not with you.
Annabel is right to warn about personality politics and billionaire-backed populism. They are powerful forces. But retreating into cynicism only hands the field to those forces. If we care about fairness, human rights and social cohesion in places like New England, the work is to organise, argue, push and shape policy — from the inside and the outside.
Democracy is messy and uncomfortable. But it only works if people stay in the arena, especially when they’re angry. That’s not blind loyalty. It’s the slow, frustrating, necessary work of change.
Denise McHugh is an experienced educator in Tamworth. She is Chair of the NSW ALP Education and Skills Committee and Deputy President of the Independent Education Union (IEU).
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