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 Essential DeLorean and go back to the future.