Winning over young men

And look at how these young people actually voted, with the conservative parties attracting a solid swag of young men while more young women shun Labor to support the Greens and Teals.

So, youngsters do offer hope for the Libs. But, as they mature, these young men go off the party. It's not hard to see why.

The great gender divide

There's plenty of media speculation about "gender divergence" in this young generation. The Financial Times points out that previous younger generations had a shared identity in terms of its politics and general ideology, but "Gen-Z is two generations not one".

The reason? Most suggest it is all about gender politics, with the rage generated by #MeToo radicalising young women and repelling young men. Surveys in Australia, USA and elsewhere show young women becoming more extremist and young men more likely to be hostile to feminism.

It's easy to see why:

• Young men have been more impacted by feminist policies than older cohorts. An American survey showed that about half of young men have suffered anti-male discrimination – a sharp increase from just 4 years ago: "Increasingly, men are reporting mistreatment in their daily lives." In South Korea, nearly 80% of men in their 20s report they are discriminated against.
• Another American survey found that half of men agreed with the statement: "These days society seems to punish men just for acting like men."
• In the UK, most men under 30 report that feminism's effect has not been positive.
• An Australian survey concluded that "younger generations of men view themselves as outsiders".
• A 32-country survey found a majority of world citizens – 54% - believe that "when it comes to giving women equal rights to men, things have gone far enough in their country." These views are especially strong among persons under 40 years of age.

In some countries, gender politics is now a mainstream political issue, reflected in their voting patterns. The clearest example is South Korea where young men have pivoted sharply to the right – see earlier chart - as reported in The Economist. Similar trends have played out in Argentina, Poland and Germany.

The result is significant policy changes. Argentina's new president, Javier Milei, delivered a blistering attack against radical feminism at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland early this year, pointing out that feminism has become a noxious force because it engenders conflict between men and women. In South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol vowed to promote tougher penalties for those making false accusations of sexual misconduct. An anti-alienation law has just been passed by the Romanian government, where parental alienation is now included in child protection legislation.

But what is truly exciting is news from Norway which has released the final report from their Men's Equality Commission. Here's one of the Left's favoured progressive countries announcing a clear rejection of zero-sum thinking – working on behalf of boys and men does not dilute the ideals of gender equality, it applies them. Here's how the Commission framed the argument: