Federal election 2022: Experts unpack the political spin from leaders’ campaign launches

Experts share their views on the early election messaging coming from Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese.

A “subtle underlying message of fear” is underpinning Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s election messaging in a bid to stop people moving away from the Coalition, political communication experts have said.

And Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese may be facing an uphill battle, with the need to differentiate Labor’s “future oriented” slogan from that of the Coalition’s.

But overall, neither party has yet nailed down a cut-through slogan to define the 2022 election campaign.

Mr Morrison, in his first slick campaign advertisement of the campaign and again in his opening pitch, warned of “uncertainty ahead” and how there was “so much at stake for Australia and our future” at the election.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison does his first TV interview after arriving in Nowra. Picture: Jason Edwards

Australian National University political communication expert Dr Andrew Hughes said the focus of the Prime Minister’s messaging at this stage was to tell people not to “change horses midstream”.

“A key part of not doing that is the fear of the economy (like the imminent raising of interest rates) and fear of the situation overseas (like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine),” he said.

“There’s a theme emerging where it’s a subtle underlying message of fear, but it’s plausible enough (of a scenario) because it’s happening now.

“Better the devil you know basically.”

According to Dr Hughes, Mr Albanese was trying to put across a vision built around core Labor values – such social welfare, healthcare, education – with a hint of reform.

Mr Morrison, angling on the Coalition’s traditional core strength of pitching themselves as the better financial managers, said voters should pick his government to ensure a “strong economy for a stronger future”.

On the other hand Mr Albanese used the phrase “building a better future”.

University of Sydney political communications senior lecturer Dr Peter Chen said both leaders were trying to push voters’ focus away from the last two years — though for different reasons.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese speaks at his first press conference after the election date was announced. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

He said for Mr Albanese it was partially about protecting the party against the missteps of the 2019 federal campaign.

For the Prime Minister, the last two years have been an “aberration” for the Coalition government in a policy sense, forced to be big spending amid the pandemic.

“They want to rhetorically slightly break with the last few years, because it’s been quite an aberration from their norms, from their spending,” he said.

“It’s about building the expectation for the public of a snap back policy, of a move back to normal.”

Dr Chen said Mr Albanese’s use of the word “better” — which he used at least 16 times in his pitch on Sunday — was to use a positive message to help voters compare the pair.

“(It is saying to voters) you have a choice between two governments, which one is the one you should vote for? Well we are the “better” one,” he said.

“It’s a simple message when you’re asking people to do comparison thinking.”

But Dr Chen warned Labor would need to work to “delineate” its message from the Coalition’s, saying a debate on policy grounds would help.

Both experts agreed neither side have come out with catchphrases that have been particularly exciting, though Dr Chen said not many campaigns are dominated by great sloganeering.

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Originally published as Federal election 2022: Experts unpack the political spin from leaders’ campaign launches