As we stare down the barrel of 2025, this year is shaping up to be a reckoning—not just for Australia, but for a world that has endured a decade of progressive politics defined by ‘Cancel Culture’, ‘Me Too’, and the relentless pursuit of ‘Virtue Signalling’. All the while, the global economy has been led toward rack and ruin by its capture by the climate change catastrophists.

Yet amidst the chaos, there’s a glimmer of hope: Millennial men born between 1981-1996 —the 28 to 43-year-old tradies, fly-in fly-out miners, farmers, small business owners, fathers, and first-home buyers—are finally coming of age and starting to push back against the era of “woke” that began around 2010.

After 15 years of bearing the brunt of progressive left ideals, this generation that sits between Generation X 1965-1980 and Generation Z 1997-2012- are quietly pushing back. Their growing influence could make 2025 a political turning point, much like 2024 was for the United States with the return of Donald Trump.

The rise of the podcasters

What has driven this reaction could quite rightly be called a counterculture revolution, underwritten by right-wing podcasters who have become pivotal in shaping the Millennial male generation across the Western world. These commentators offer an alternative to mainstream progressive narratives. Influencers such as Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan, Tim Pool, and Matt Walsh have built platforms that resonate with young men navigating a cultural landscape often dominated by shouty elites quick to decry the white working-class male as the root of the world’s problems.

These podcasts discuss personal responsibility, traditional values, and free speech, countering the progressive focus on identity politics and systemic guilt. Their unfiltered commentary has created a space where Millennial men feel seen, inspiring them to come out and reject the overreach of progressive ideologies.

This countercultural wave has fostered a generation increasingly sceptical of woke culture. Many have embraced values championed by these voices—male masculinity, meritocracy, independence, and a rejection of cancel culture—signalling the end of the woke era and a renewed focus on pragmatism and empowerment.

This cultural shift is now manifesting politically, with its power acknowledged by Trump in his victory speech, referencing his appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience, Logan Paul’s Impaulsive, and Theo Von’s This Past Weekend. Combined, these shows—with predominantly male audiences—amassed 68.7 million YouTube views, far outstripping traditional media platforms like CNN, which draws a nightly audience of just 500,000. Rogan alone, with his 3–4 podcasts a week, reaches 14 million people per episode.

A world on the brink

With Trump’s return and the power of this new communications medium, the global stage is set for upheaval. While autocrats like Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin flex their muscles, the woke elite seem not to have woken up as they continue to agonise over the rights of ‘them they’, fret about climate change and the predicament of Palestinian terrorists —agendas detached from the day-to-day world of working class Millennial man.

This underscores the importance of strong, pragmatic leadership. Trump’s 2024 rise exemplified this, with his directness appealing to those disillusioned by weak policies and leaders, leaders who speak in word salads and leaders who only listen to the voices of the inner city. Trump’s return signals it’s now okay for Millennials to unapologetically order red meat and no greens, to drive big utes and demand people are promoted on merit and not their minority status—he speaks their language, one that says it’s once again okay to be a male going into middle age.

Forgotten Australians: small business owners and farmers

Life for Australia’s Millennial men—whether in the suburbs, the bush, or the struggling regional towns—has become a grinding challenge. Cost-of-living pressures, soaring interest rates, and the dream of home ownership slipping away, weigh heavily on this generation. They juggle family responsibilities, small businesses, and farm succession plans, yet feel abandoned by policies favouring urban elites.

This cohort is fed up and ready to demand a political shift in 2025—a shift that prioritises their contributions and struggles over those of a Prime Minister who can afford a $4.3 million beachfront home while they struggle to pay the power bill.

Climate change

For Australia’s Millennial males, the debate on net zero is a case study in common sense versus the green left’s fantasy. Either we continue down the ruinous path of net-zero emissions or pivot towards practical energy solutions like nuclear power.

For those who have to live under the wind farms and listen to talk about a future without their petroleum powered Hilux or Ranger, this isn’t just ideology—it’s survival. They see renewables replacing wealth-generating coal and gas, knowing first-hand that renewable energy equals unreliable energy and an end to manufacturing jobs. Not surprisingly, they’re tuning into voices that challenge the green-left vision of a promised utopia and are listening to those who offer pragmatic policies that keep the lights on.

A changing Australia

With over a million migrants arriving in two years, and nearly 10 million since the first Millennial man was born back in the 1990s, Australia is no longer the country they or their parents  remember. The fair go, Australia, the Oz rock pub culture, and Australia Day barbecues are being replaced by scenes of division and protest. They see a nation losing its identity and a government that prefers divisive policies over unifying leadership.

Generation Y: the counter revolution

But we have seen this before. Generational shifts often spark counterrevolutions, and this one is no different. Each generation has seen its swing to the progressive left before being dragged back to the common-sense conservative right.

The pre-war Silent Generation, known for stoicism, was captured by socialism and labour movements until post-war conservatism returned them to Menzies. The Baby Boomers embraced rock and roll and the 60s counterculture but swung back to the centre right when marriage and kids arrived, throwing out Whitlam’s economic chaos. Generation X, the grunge and gay rights kids, voted when they had had enough of Keating’s recession we ‘had to have’, brought out their baseball bats and became Howard’s battlers.

A political turning point

The Federal election in 2025 may be this generation’s moment. Like the United States in 2024, it’s a chance to reshape the political landscape. This generation of males aren’t asking for handouts, they don’t particularly care about the rights and wrongs of Gaza but they do know when things are not right economically and that it’s wrong for boys to be in girls’ change rooms.

Tired of being blamed for society’s ills, they are ready to speak up at the ballot box and take back the Australia they remember.