Malcolm in the middle: what can Labor learn from Turnbull’s doomed attempt to govern from the centre? | Peter Lewis

Ten years after my first Essential column for the Guardian, another centrist government is confronting a global bin fire in the face of a resurgence of populism

I wrote my first column for Guardian Australia in August 2016, when the winds of chaos were sweeping the globe, the forces of division were finding their voice and a centrist leader named Malcolm was scrambling to hang on.

A decade provides enough space to give events real definition in the rear-view mirror while more recent events still feel like passing traffic or roadkill.

So, let’s strap ourselves into the https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/series/the-guardian-essential-report">Essential DeLorean and go back to the future.