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Major
Australian
Political
Parties Need A
Vision For The
Future In Order
To Engage
Young Voters.
Discuss.
values and the changes they want to see in Australia. Basically, their
position on each individual issue makes sense in terms of what they
stand for. And young people can easily identify themselves with a
narrative if it appeals to their own beliefs. The contortions the major
parties put themselves through to satisfy the needs of swinging
voters and dissatisfied demographics means that the Liberals and
Labor no longer have a clear direction or a specific demographic as
their support base. Young idealistic voters can be left disappointed
with the short-term politically-expedient vision of the major parties.
However, it must be noted that it is challenging for the major
parties to find a meaningful long-term vision when they must always
appeal to the general Australian population – the ‘moderate’ voters.
With Australia’s preferential voting system, the disillusioned must
always choose between Labor and Liberal in the end (unless they
invalidate their vote). Therefore, these parties must balance different
ideologies and purport diverse values in order to gain enough support
for a majority. This makes it difficult for them to project a meaningful
vision for Australia that reflects their true values.
That’s not to say that it can’t be done. The current political
climate in the US shows that it’s possible for the major parties to
have coherent narratives. This is specifically true for the Democrats
under Barack Obama. No one can deny that Obama has a vision. For
the 2008 election in particular, he gained office largely through his
oration of hope and change to benefit all Americans. Clearly, his
ideas appealed to the majority of voters, but he gained particular
support from the young; receiving nearly two-thirds of their vote in
2008, and 60 per cent in 2012. He also maintained the same turnout
of young voters at both elections
5
, showing that a man with vision
can be very engaging to young people. In addition, a
UMR
Research
poll reported last year that 72 per cent of Australians would vote for
Obama if they had the chance.
6
For voters stuck in a pessimistic
electoral climate with little in the way of long-term grand ideas,
Obama’s optimism can be compelling.
The state of the Republican Party after the
US
election is also a
powerful case for promoting a clear narrative to the electorate.
During the 2012 election campaign and after Mitt Romney’s defeat,
many political analysts noted that the Republican Party seemed
fractured and incongruous – the ‘moderate’ Mitt often appearing
uncomfortable and insincere in purporting far-right ideas stemming
12
5
Data from
‘Young Voters Supported
Obama Less, But May
Have Mattered More’,
Pew Research Centre for
the People and the Press,
November 26, 2012
6
UMR Research as cited
in Peter Hartcher,
‘Australian voters would
deliver Obama landslide
victory’,
The Sydney
Morning Herald
,
August 28, 2012