Longer campaigns, big personality and more podcasts — Australian politics is turning Trumpian
Big on personalities and podcasts, light on policy: Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton will, it’s claimed, use the US-style identity politics which swept Donald Trump to power to win votes.
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An unofficial campaign that will drag on for more than six months, a string of unconventional podcast appearances and an election fight that is heavy on vibes and light on policy — Australians would be forgiven for thinking the Americans have taken over how we do things around here.
With Australia still waiting for the official start of a federal election campaign and polling day due no later than May 17, experts say the fight for government is set to descend into a culture war, with both leaders accused of using identity politics for their own agendas.
This has long been the case in America, where both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris ran campaigns that focused heavily on their personal attributes, rather than the policies of their respective parties.
Prior to that, Joe Biden swept into power against Trump’s first presidency in a campaign that could be summed up as: “I’m not that guy”.
But Melbourne University American politics expert Professor Timothy Lynch said this has not always been the case in Australia — until now.
He said the last Australian leaders who had presidential appeal were Bob Hawke and John Howard, but Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and the string of Liberal Prime Ministers that followed were all “parliamentary style leaders” and did not try “to claim presidential authority”.
That is now changing, thanks to Trump.
“Donald Trump’s victory was a testament to how far culture has displaced economics,” he said.
“Americans gave us the culture wars. LGBT rights, critical race theory, they were direct imports from the US and we have caught up.
“The spectre of Trump and US politics always hangs over Australian politics.”
He predicts the 2025 polls will be fought on culture wars — something that became more clear by a series of early hot takes from opposition leader Peter Dutton but was first brought to Australia with Anthony Albanese’s Voice campaign.
“Woke politics gave us Trump, and woke politics, through the Voice and things like that, has given us an opposition (to identity politics) ironically,” he said.
“This is not simply something Dutton is trying to exploit, it is something that was invited by Albanese’s Voice campaign.
“Albanese introduced and made fundamental cultural issues that Australian have for a long time shied away from.
“The Left has created a scenario where a lot of these issues are much more current
so now there is an alternative.”
Dutton, for his part, has vowed that if elected he would only stand in front of an Australian flag and not an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flag, that he would force local councils to hold Australia Day ceremonies and more recently a proposal that he could hold a referendum on deporting dual citizens who commit crimes.
“I expect we will see an Australian equivalent of a culture war in the next few months,” he said.
“Trump was evidence that by taking bold, clear stands which are obviously pro-nation, pro-patriotic (you can win).
“It’ll be hard for Peter Dutton to avoid some of this. I find it hard to believe he would try to win on a technical policy level, he will say I will stand behind one flag, one race of people called Australians.”
But Australia Institute international and security affairs program director Dr Emma Ortis said although Australian politics is becoming more presidential, Australia’s political system meant local candidates mattered more than in the US.
“It is widely assumed that Australian politics is becoming more presidential, with more focus on personality but our actual system and the way we do elections is quite different,” she said.
“Some of the coverage and political coverage might be more personality based, local candidates still really matter.”
Dr Ortis said because of the nature of American election cycles, parties and candidates are campaigning at all times.
Although this was not the case in Australia, she had noted an increase in longer, more drawn out campaigns.
Anthony Albanese announced his first election policy in November with the 20 per cent discount for all HECS debts — that will now be more than six months before the election is due.
“We know roughly when elections will be held, they are fairly predictable but I do think it’s stretching out,” she said.
Another similarity has been the meteoric rise in both political leaders doing the rounds on popular culture podcasts.
The US Presidential campaign gave us Kamala Harris’s debut on sex and celebrity podcast Call Her Daddy.
Australia’s answer to that was Albanese’s appearance on the equally raunchy It’s A Lot with Abbie Chatfield which is hosted by a reality TV contestant turned media personality.
Chatfield most recently hosted an event where Greens leader Adam Bandt was the DJ playing Taylor Swift bangers to a group of 500 voters.
Even the more conservative Dutton has not shied away from soft-touch podcast interviews appearing on No Filter by women’s media house Mamamia and Straight Talk with Mark Bouris.
Many of the interviews were criticised, including by their own listeners, for focusing heavily on the vibes of the respective leaders with very little critical discussion of their policies.
But that is the state of play in politics in 2025 says La Trobe University political communications expert Professor Natalie McKenna.
“A podcast lasting an hour or more fosters a deeper connection, making listeners feel as if they truly understand the politician, perhaps even see them as a friend,” she said. “In some case this … can be more impactful than a brief TV interview.
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