From one of Australia’s leading political opinion pollsters and strategists — and drawing on the author’s personal and professional experiences — here is a revelatory account of the dramatic generational and demographic transformations that Australia is undergoing, and why business, politics, and pollsters are struggling to keep up.

Kos Samaras grew up in post-war suburban Australia, witnessing how waves of migration and globalisation restructured the neighbourhoods, schools, workplaces, and communities that defined Australian life. Since then, from the South-East Asian influx of the 1980s and 1990s to the more recent arrivals of highly qualified Indian and Chinese Australians, the author has seen how later migrants have fundamentally redrawn the cultural and economic map of suburban Australia. They have brought a different class profile, educational attainment, and global outlook to our cities, and their political power is only beginning to be understood.

Overlaying this are the Millennials and Gen Z — digitally native, asset-poor, hyper-educated, and increasingly angry. Their economic dislocation, housing stress, and social liberalism place them at odds with the policy assumptions and culture of older generations. Together with migrant Australia, they are driving a once-in-a-century realignment of political and economic power.

In a richly informed account, Kos Samaras reveals how this dual transformation is already being felt: in boardrooms, where consumer loyalty is being redefined by values and diversity; in politics, where traditional parties are losing control of key urban and outer-suburban electorates; and in the entertainment industry, where the mainstream media are losing relevance to digital-first, culturally pluralistic content creators.