Abstract
Drawing on the fields of Australian political and social history, media studies and celebrity studies, Stephanie Brookes’ first book, Politics, Media and Campaign Language: Australia’s Identity Anxiety, provides a timely reminder of the need to interrogate the role, and relevance, of both political rhetoric, and the parliamentary sphere – both in Australia and internationally. Based on her PhD thesis (originally submitted in 2009), this text has since been updated to encompass the study of Australia’s recent, and unprecedented, federal parliamentary tensions and scandals.
Focussing on the words that have been ‘spoken “out loud”’ (p. 14) by Prime Ministers and opposition leaders during formal election campaigns (from 1901 to the most recent election in 2016), Brookes employs both content and discourse analysis to initially identify key themes and language patterns, followed by a ‘nuanced, contextualised examination’ (p.11) of the campaign launches/speeches, Press Club addresses, election debates and talkback radio appearances of such notable political figures as Robert Menzies, Bob Hawke and John Howard.
As Brookes identifies in relation to themes of ‘Belonging’, ‘Values’, ‘Community’, ‘Security’ and ‘Vision’, the primary aim of this text is to identify how these (increasingly celebrified) politicians (e.g. Kevin Rudd’s multimedia ‘offensive’ via FM radio, ‘light’ television and social media), their speechwriters (Watson, Freudenberg and Ellis et al.), and their broader political parties (and associated ideologies), seek to frame, and promote, the often-contentious concept of ‘Australian identity’. In doing so, Brookes illustrates the potential for both continuity and change – although the nuances of this, it is acknowledged, may differ depending on political ideology and context.
As she argues, such themes remain relevant even within a shifting media landscape, the increasing personalisation/presidentialisation of political figures and the highly choreographed ‘performance’ of election campaigns (although perceived efficacy and authenticity can vary considerably). As a quote from Australia’s longest-serving, Liberal, Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, illustrates – and which Brookes substantiates through her compelling and detailed analyses – such ‘performance’ can be characterised as an ‘art’ form that goes beyond merely delivering the specifics of a particular speech or policy outline (p. 3). However, the perceived efficacy of this is often highly gendered – Brookes briefly draws attention to the example of Julia Gillard’s often ‘robotic’ appearances on the 2010 campaign trail. Indeed, nostalgia for this notion of political delivery as ‘art’ is evidenced due to the ‘decline of political language’ and the absence of ‘genuine national conversation’ during recent elections (p. 32).
For me, a particularly powerful point that Brookes strives to reiterate is the importance of recognising those voters who are being explicitly addressed ( ‘Howard’s Battlers’), in contrast to those who are notable by their lack of reference, and what this subsequently can tell us about race and class relations (in particular) in Australia at different times. In doing so, I am reminded that the Australian parliamentary domain – indeed, ‘traditional’ politics globally – remains a largely rarefied institution within the public sphere. Contemporary political engagement, technically, has the potential to take place in a myriad of ways across a range of different platforms. Politics, Media and Campaign Language, however, acts as a timely reminder of the particularly privileged demographic that has occupied the most significant parliamentary positions over 100 + years; possessing the ability to shape the ‘identity’ narrative both within the context of an election campaign, and beyond. Taking this into account, one is forced to reflect – how intersectional is this notion of ‘Australian identity’ and, in line with broader political and social trends internationally, how representative/relevant is this particular way of performing politics?