This might seem a little bit late but for good reason: I finally feel ready to think reasonably objectively about the 2013 Federal Election and what went on there. Perhaps because of my doctoral studies, or maybe just the age that I am, I really think that I’m developing more of an understanding of the way things like media and momentum interact across politic spectrums. Objectively, it was a fascinating election, event though the result did not go the way I had hoped. Ultimately, as are all failures, this is a chance for the ALP to reconsider and regrow: failure to do so will mean that they will become an irrelevance.
So where did it all go wrong for the ALP? I think that, in their legislative record, there is much to be proud of: the Carbon Tax, NDIS, Gonski, MRRT and lots more. Regardless of what the Tories do now, these are examples of meaningful social change and important nation-building work. They are the true work of government, and stand in stark contrast to the reform-free years of the Howard Government. With that weight of legislative reform, as well as the sensible and careful economic management demonstrated both by Rudd and Gillard, the ALP should have been a shoe in for another term.
But they weren’t – in fact, they were lucky, according to most political pundits, to win as many seats as they did. Kevin Rudd, apparently, saved the furniture. The tide of public opinion had swung so heavily in the direction of the Tories that an electoral wipeout was predicted. This points to where the ALP lost the campaign. In some way, somehow, they had lost control of the narrative. The media had a large part to blame in this.