I thoroughly enjoy reading the paper. Any paper, really. I love being informed.
But lately, it is getting harder and harder to open it without thinking: has the world completely lost its mind?
And leading the charge – with all the grace of a drunk man in a bulldozer – is Donald Trump.
For most of us here in Tamworth, Armidale or anywhere in New England, international upheaval usually feels a long way away. Wars, trade disputes, diplomatic nonsense, American political theatre – it usually all feels like something happening “over there”.
Except now, it isn’t.
Because Trump has brought the upheaval right to my front door.
Fuel is up. Food is up. And like a lot of Australians, I have watched my super take a hit.
That is what makes this moment different. Trump is no longer just a bizarre American spectacle we can laugh at from a safe distance. He is now a direct cost-of-living issue for Australian families.
And if that was not enough, this week he moved to slap a 100 per cent tariff on pharmaceuticals, hitting Australian exporters and treating one of America’s oldest allies like an economic inconvenience rather than a partner. The White House has framed the move as a “national security” measure but call it for what it is: economic bullying dressed up as patriotism.
Honestly, what the hell happened to being allies?
And because apparently there is no floor anymore, Trump also used a White House lunch to take a swipe at Emmanuel Macron and his marriage – joking that Brigitte Macron treated her husband “extremely badly” and that he was still recovering from a “right to the jaw”. And the truly depressing part? People laughed. At a White House lunch. While the world is already wobbling under the weight of war, trade instability and diplomatic breakdown – they laughed. Multiple outlets reported the remark, and Macron later called it “neither elegant nor up to standard.” Classy!
That, to me, says everything. This is the state of America under Trump: the President of the United States can talk about war, trade, allies and global security like he is hosting open-mic night at the pub, and half the room still chuckles along like it is all perfectly normal.
It isn’t normal. It isn’t leadership. It is decay.
Americans should be embarrassed.
And because there is apparently no limit to the chaos, we have also had Trump’s reckless handling of the conflict with Iran — more instability in the Middle East, more pressure on oil markets, more uncertainty for a world that was already on edge. He is not some master strategist playing four-dimensional chess. He is a roving wrecking ball with a phone, a grievance and far too much power.
And Australians are not stupid. They can see the connection between a reckless man in Washington and the bill landing at their front door.
As Kos Samaras pointed out from RedBridge polling, 61 per cent of voters blame Trump for rising petrol prices. Only 14 per cent blame Albanese. And the number that really says it all? Even 39 per cent of One Nation voters blame Trump for petrol prices.
That should be setting off alarm bells right across the Australian right.
Because let’s be honest: parts of the conservative political and media class in this country have spent years cosying up to Trump-style politics like it was some sort of clever shortcut.
And yes, I am looking directly at Pauline Hanson and One Nation.
Because One Nation has spent years trying to bottle the same poison: grievance, division, scapegoating, conspiracy, anti-institution rage, and the endless performance of being “anti-elite” while offering precious little when people actually need solutions.
And they have not exactly been alone.
You only have to spend five minutes listening to the usual right-wing outrage merchants, Andrew Bolt, Peta Credlin, Rita Panahi and the rest of the Sky-after-dark circus, to see how eagerly parts of the Australian commentariat have tried to import Trump’s tone, his tactics and his permanent state of manufactured outrage.
For a while, they probably thought they were importing a political winner. A culture war machine. A way to keep people angry and distracted.
Instead, what they imported was chaos.
And chaos has a cost. It shows up in petrol prices. It shows up in supermarket bills. It shows up in shaky markets and falling confidence. It shows up when ordinary people are left paying for the reckless behaviour of political arsonists who will never miss a meal themselves.
That is the bill for this rubbish.
And here is the thing Australians should be very grateful for: a lunatic like Trump would struggle to get anywhere near this level of power in our system.
Our political system is not perfect – far from it – but thanks to compulsory voting, preferential voting, an independent electoral commission, stronger institutions and a parliamentary system that still requires at least some level of collective responsibility, it is much harder here for one deranged ego to completely hijack the country.
And let’s be honest: if someone in Australia had Trump’s conduct, Trump’s criminal convictions, Trump’s fraud findings, Trump’s history of incitement and his daily public instability, they would not be treated as some kind of political messiah.
They would be laughed out of any preselection process, let alone win office.
That is why Australians should be very wary of anyone here still trying to normalise this rubbish.
Because in a time of uncertainty, what we need is not more uncertainty.We need a steady hand. We need calm. We need serious government.
And we certainly do not need an opposition, if you can even call it that, trying to whip up fear and panic around fuel supplies just to score a cheap political point.
That is not leadership. That is opportunism.
At a time when families are already worried about what it costs to drive to work, buy groceries, keep the lights on and protect what little they have managed to put away, the last thing this country needs is political opportunists and media shock jocks pouring petrol on the fire.
That is the real lesson in all of this. Trump is not a strongman. He is not a genius. He is not some misunderstood truth teller.
He is what happens when narcissism, grievance and institutional weakness are allowed to run wild at the same time.
A wrecking ball in a suit.
And every Australian politician, party and commentator who has spent the last few years flirting with that style of politics now owns a piece of the damage.
Because Trump is no longer just something happening “over there”.
He has knocked on the front door.
And Australia would be mad to invite him in.
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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