Look around the world and you would think the world is burning and Australian society is burning with it.
Wars and conflict in the Middle East, Ukraine, Africa and most other continents, deep political polarisation, racial tension and a prolonged cost-of-living crisis stand out at the international level and combine with and propel homegrown racial hatred and violence toward Jewish, Muslim, Indigenous and Indian Australians (and almost everyone else).
This creates a toxic mix, bad for people’s sense of connection, belonging, empathy and trust in each other. In sum, bad for one of the political buzzwords of 2026: Australia’s social cohesion.
