ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter covers the steps involved in calling a federal election, briefly explains the Australian electoral process, and outlines a major theme of the book: that concepts from the scholarly literature on professional communication can help explain the 2022 Australian federal election result.
Examining election results using communication theory has not before been pursued by the usual Australian election analysts – political scientists, political communication academics, political journalists, and politicians. The book also uses two concepts from public policy and communication scholarship – the Overton Window and Hallahan’s five publics model – to construct a lens through which voter activation can be explained, and how the subsequent movement in voter understanding and support cost the major parties first preference votes at the 2022 federal election. It also applies the traditional strategic communication plan structure to assess the effectiveness of the two campaigns’ approaches.
An analysis of the election results using these tools leads to an argument that Australians who shifted their votes away from the major parties to independents and minor parties at the 2022 federal election did so because they preferred the environmental, climate change, and political integrity policies of the independents, and believed the Coalition government did not listen to the concerns of ordinary people. In addition, the increase in the number of people enrolling, in voter turnout, and the decrease in informal voting, can be explained by Hallahan’s argument and the Overton Window, as can the decline in Coalition support from voters aged under 40.
