With Anthony Albanese introducing his cabinet for the Labor party and Parliament set to sit soon, it is vital the Labor Party starts preparing for the next election now. Looking back on their failings and the obstacles they faced in the latest election, what can Labor do to ensure a victory next election?
Perhaps the most discussed obstacle to the Labor Party’s campaign was that of the Murdoch Media. To many on the Labor side and even many objective analysts, the media companies owned by Murdoch were on a relentless campaign to sway voters towards the Liberal coalition and away from the Labor party. However, will this is true, Emeritus professor in government and international relations at the University of Sydney Rod Tiffen states that ‘In terms of direct reach, they’re shrinking. Their audience is very much an older demographic’. It is very widely known that Newspaper coverage is slipping in favor of online media and social media and with that, many younger Australians get their news from there. However, despite the majority of young adult Australians, who were meant to be the backbone of the ALP, the Liberal party was the party which focused on social media advertising. A quick look through both parties social media ads shows that the Liberal Coalition had far more ads on social media than the ALP and that their preference deal partners, the United Australian Party had more than both. So, even without the Murdoch Media’s influence both the UAP and Liberal Coalition were far more connected with Labor’s key demographic than Labor was. To win the next election and negate the effect of the Murdoch Media, the ALP needs to have a strong social media advertising campaign and it has to be smart in how it uses it.
The next biggest problem for the Labor party this election, and perhaps the biggest success for the Liberal coalition was the campaigns each candidate ran. Utilizing the changes in party rules, Scott Morrison was able to negate the negatives that the leadership spill a few months ago had on the coalition, while his ‘one man band’ campaign showed charisma to the Australian populace. While Bill Shorten ran a smart and well-thought out campaign, his words were not as hard-hitting nor were they as memorable as Morrison’s. And while he ran on policies rather than words, a clear example of the need to back good policies with strong words is Gough Whitlam’s campaign. His message of ‘it’s time’ still rings in the ears of Labor supporters to this day and unfortunately Bill couldn’t capture that same spirit, despite well put policy decisions. For Albanese to win the next election, he needs to connect good policies with strong words as many people will connect far better with a slogan than 100 words of policy. And one good slogan can connect a voter to the party and make them read into the party further, allowing for good policies to effect.
Finally, and perhaps the most controversial obstacle for Labor’s campaign was working with minor parties and independents. The Liberal coalition, in what was originally seen as a desperate and ignorant move made preference deals with One Nation and the United Australian Party. Despite initial comments, these deals proved to be the lynchpin in the Liberal Coalition’s win. On the other hand, Labor and the party they were meant to be allied with, the Greens, fought often and had no such proper preference deal. Without working with these minor parties in some capacity, Labor continues to stand alone against the right-wing parties. If Labor and Albanese don’t present a united front of left-leaning parties next election, they will find themselves in a much more difficult position than they would otherwise be in.
Should Labor advertise more efficiently, connect policies with smart slogans and work with other left-leaning parties properly, there is a very large chance they can win next election. However, only time will tell if these work at all but one thing is for certain, the old idea that Australia brings one party in to kick out the other has been blasted.
PoliticsBuff 