‘Arcane idea’ from 18th-century French politics is allowing for the demonisation of the right

Menzies Research Centre Executive Director Nick Cater discusses his piece in The Australian about the demonisation of the right. “It’s going to black and white ... good and bad,” Mr Cater told Sky News host James Morrow. “This whole idea that politics goes from left to right, as you know, comes from the French National Assembly in the 18th century – it’s an arcane idea; politics doesn’t fit it like that. “But it suits the left … to keep on with this because then they can say that anybody on the conservative side who is slightly more conservative than averagely conservative is on the hard right.”