And it exposed disturbing fissures in Australian society; the underfunded hospitals and public schools, the underpaid care workers, the shockingly inadequate aged care system, and the desperate need for an unemployment payment at a livable rate.
But neither major party is offering a transformative agenda in this campaign. Neither is offering policies commensurate with the task.
On global heating, the existential issue upending our lives, this campaign has glossed over policy differences between the major parties because both have promised to reach net zero emissions by 2050 (although some in the Coalition remain unconvinced).
Labor has a fund to build affordable housing but neither major party is promising to increase the subsidy for low-income renters, despite a finding that no rental properties are affordable for someone on government benefits, and only 2% are affordable for someone on a minimum wage.
Critically, Labor has also promised to move quickly on a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous voice to parliament, unfinished business for justice and reconciliation that is opposed by the Coalition.
Voters across the political spectrum are disgusted by rorts and pork barrelling and the lack of accountability in federal politics, fuelling deep disillusionment and corroding trust in the democratic system. But Mr Morrison is obstinately clinging to an integrity commission model that experts say would be worse than nothing at all, arguing, implausibly, that corruption is primarily a problem for the states and that politicians should enjoy an unfettered ability to spend taxpayer funds as they choose. Labor, by contrast, has promised a federal Icac with teeth.
Guardian Australia believes that case is compounded by the leadership styles of the two men vying to be prime minister.
The polls tell us that many voters, disillusioned by these choices, are turning to smaller parties and independents.
