With federal election campaigning well underway, we asked UNE leadership expert Simon Burgess* what value there is in the daily media spot in marginal seats (and often hi-vis) for the Prime Minister and (currently quarantined) Opposition leader.
Does the Australian public need to see Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese in this context each night?
“Definitely not!" Simon says.
"It’s become common for local candidates to beg the party leader to briefly visit their electorate, merely for the purpose of a quick photo op and a funding promise. We see it most often among those who imagine that being a politician simply involves buying votes by spending money that others have earned.
"But my view is that being a politician ought to be something more meaningful than that. I think they should be spending more time recognising the good work of ordinary citizens, helping to set a positive tone for our political culture, and contributing to the conversation about what civic life involves.
"It’s as if we’ve been slowly sleepwalking towards something resembling the US presidential system – one in which the Prime Minister is expected to be an extraordinarily influential presence in public life. But the role of Prime Minister isn’t even mentioned in the constitution, and a properly functioning cabinet government doesn’t need the PM to play that role. Cabinet ministers are the principal decision makers with regard to policy matters, and there’s nothing to be gained by allowing the party leaders to be the main focus.
I think that a lot of us lament the way that many political journalists often seek easy 'gotcha' moments rather than insights.
"So, personally, I’d like to see more attention given to other politicians and local candidates, and less to the party leaders. And I’d like to see them engaged in conversation about all kinds of issues. There’s nothing wrong with asking policy questions but I’d also like to see them asked about various cultural issues, too, and to even prompt them to think about some philosophical questions.
"Many of us recognise that a vast number of government policies are actually dismal failures. And if some well-prepared journalists were to routinely ask politicians why, exactly, they are choosing to support the same kind of policy that has consistently failed in the past, I’m sure they’d get some genuinely interesting responses.
"I think that a lot of us lament the way that many political journalists often seek easy 'gotcha' moments rather than insights. And personally I think it’s a shame that many journalists love to talk about poll results. Quoting poll results can often help to make a politician squirm, but applying that kind of pressure seldom yields anything truly interesting. In my view, poll results are really just a cheap and frivolous distraction, especially given that the polling methods that have been used in recent elections have been hopelessly unreliable anyway.”
*Simon is a lecturer in ethical leadership in the UNE Business School.
