‍Beaches COVERED.'s political columnist Mark Smith is back, and he hasn't lost a step. After a well-earned break, Mark returns with his trademark straight talk on the issues that matter to people living real lives in the real world. This issue, he tackles the rise of populist politics, the tap-and-go debate, and a federal budget that's left many scratching their heads. Buckle up.

For some time now, people on the left side of politics have denigrated people who they don't agree with. I believe this can be traced back to Hillary Clinton's famous remark calling people who don't vote for her a 'basket of deplorables'.

This went on to motivate people to vote for Donald Trump, especially important as the US doesn't have compulsory voting. I also think this woke up a large part of the populations of many western countries, who, up until that point, had remained largely quiet.

Of course there were other factors at play, as in Britain, where people who were 'pro-Brexit' were often talked down to as not understanding the ramifications. Also branding people as racist because they wanted a reduction in immigration.

These people were, and are, making a good argument with regards to a drastic shortfall on public infrastructure and housing, dental and doctor services, and school placement availability. Simply labelling these people racist only serves to drive voters into the arms of the left's 'enemies': Trump, Farage and now Pauline Hanson.

Hanson may well have been around for years, but only now are we seeing tangible results at the ballot box. The recent state election in South Australia, and the by-election in the federal seat of Farrer, are a case in point.

With the Victorian state election later this year, it will be interesting to see how One Nation goes about selecting candidates for this race. This selection process could be tricky for the party. Even with the preselection of the new member for Farrer, David Farley, problems arose with his history of trying to become a member of the Labor party and possible donations to future opponents. In the end, this wasn't a problem as he won the seat with ease. Running many candidates in most if not all seats in Victoria won't be easy.

Further to my point, in the UK, the Reform party, headed by Nigel Farage, just won over 1,400 seats out of 5,000 council seats in the recent elections there. The British Labour party was humiliated. At the time of writing, Sir Keir Starmer was still the PM, but I doubt he will be when you read this.

Of course, the problem with these 'populist' parties is that when they go from being a protest party into government, issues can arise. The Trump administration is a great example. The people he chose for his cabinet are a motley crew at best. I could write pages on this, but I won't.

So as the Reform party in the UK and One Nation here continue to build, perhaps their critics may start to engage with them, and importantly their supporters, with a little more respect.

The 'tap and go' argument has been going on for a while in Australia, with most people happy that the Reserve Bank has stopped the banks from charging a fee to the customer when they tap for a purchase. I wonder if these people have thought it completely through.

The cost of this will now be passed on to the business, and every owner that I have spoken to has said they will increase prices to cover the cost. Are people that selfish that paying an extra few cents is a problem? After all, it is a service provided to them by the banks and the small business owners.

And what about the consumers who use cash? Especially older Australians, who will now pay more because someone is chuffed to save about 8 or 9 cents on a coffee. To me, it just feeds into my belief that we are becoming a less pleasant society.

As for the Federal budget handed down by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, in the following days it is obvious it has not been received well by the public. Personally, I think the changes to negative gearing seem sensible, but I guess time will tell.

As for the $250 payment to all wage earners, this is a perfect example of why I am a strong believer in means testing. I have no doubt there are people out there who need this money (the same with the $75 quarterly electricity subsidy), but surely not everyone.

I feel certain that many people would agree it is better to be targeted, rather than just giving it away and run the risk of increasing inflation. And it does my head in when these politicians hand back OUR money and expect credit for it. •