Federal Elections

Time to Be Cynical

Having covered more elections than he likes to admit, JAMES ANTHONY casts his jaded eyes over what you can expect during the coming Federal Election.

With an Australian Federal election coming up it is important to listen to what is said by the major political parties and then sort out what you think is important.

Is it getting a job? The environment? Human rights? Education and health? If one or more of those things will be what you vote on then concentrate on how the parties campaign on those issues.

And then you need to ask yourself what can be believed.

The first thing is to work out when a politician is lying. It's easy enough, it's when you see their lips moving.

I know it's an old joke, but there is more than a small amount of truth in it.

Pollie Spin

If you watch them, politicians of any party will always answer questions the way they want (often without actually answering what was asked) and will always put a spin on it.

You have to listen carefully to start with, but you'll pick it up fairly easily. For example:

Question: Will taxes rise after the election?

Answer: I can promise there will be no new taxes if we are elected.

Sounds good doesn't it? But it isn't an answer to what was asked.

The question was will taxes rise - that was ignored. Instead the old line of "no new taxes" was trotted out. That doesn't mean taxes won't rise, just that there won't be any new ones (probably).

Listen and Question

A good interviewer will pull the politician up on that, but our media today tends to be far more accepting of political sound grabs than they used to. (A sound grab is a short punchy one-liner that is good for radio and TV news items.)

A politician may come out with a great-sounding line like "This is the greatest thing for Australia in 200 years!"

Who says it is? The politician - well they would wouldn't they. Why is it the greatest thing? Who says? And how can they back it up?

If the media doesn't ask then you must ask those questions yourself.

The Get-Out Clause

Listen to what politicians say and watch for the get-out clause. That's the one where they leave themselves a way of weaseling out of election promises.

This tends to be something along the lines of "if the strong economic growth continues we'll be both fiscally and socially responsible and put $250million into new hospitals."

Get Out 1 is "if the strong economic growth continues". This means that if there is not strong economic growth they don't need to keep the promise.

Get Out 2 is "we'll be both fiscally and socially responsible". Reading between the lines you know that this gives them the opportunity to say "it's not fiscally responsible at the moment so we can't do it."

Motherhood Statements

There will be plenty of what is known as motherhood statements being thrown around during the campaign.

These are airy-fairy ideas about things that pollies know people want addressed.

They sound good, but are undetailed, and are designed so that politicians can be seen as "caring" and can make a statement without offending anybody.

Like wanting world peace, or no one living in poverty, or stamping out child slavery.

Gee, even I'd vote for someone who promised those things.

Make up your own mind

If you are voting for either the House of Representatives (Lower House) or Senate (Upper House) this election then remember it is a big responsibility. Don't just follow your parents' voting pattern - but neither should you ignore it. Ask them why they vote as they do and make up your own mind.

Many people are swinging voters - neither staunchly for one major party or the other - and it is these people that politicians target during elections. They are in what is known as marginal seats where one party holds only a narrow advantage after the most recent election.

Have a look at how often the political leaders visit those marginal seats in a campaign - and how much they'll promise the people living there.

By the end of the campaign you'll be sick to death of politics and pollies, but will get your chance to exercise your democratic duty and vote against the one who has grated the most.

After the polls close you can get to sit in front of the TV and watch as the results start coming in.

Then, when it's all over, you remember we have to go through it all again in three years.

Some Websites

Liberal Party of Australia
Australian Labor Party
Australian Greens
Australian Democrats
Federal Government
Australian Electoral Commission