On message or out of touch? Secure web sites and political campaigning in Australia

Abstract

This article examines the extent to which Australian parties are adapting new information and communication technologies (ICTs) for electoral advantage, with particular reference to the Intranets or ‘secure web sites’ being operated by the major parties. Although all parties now routinely provide public web sites to communicate with voters, their use of Intranet sites is a less well-publicised but increasingly important area of activity. These resources serve as a significant conduit of communication between the central and local arms of party organisations, helping to ensure that candidates remain organised and ‘on message’. Based on the specific case of the Liberal Party, we explore the wider implications of Intranets for the centralisation and professionalisation of political campaigning in Australia. We also assess the advantages such developments bestow on the major parties, and the prospect this raises for the ‘cartelisation’ of the Australian party system.

Notes

¹Interviews with a cross-section of Liberal Party and Australian Labor Party personnel provided much of the information on secure web sites for this article. See also van Onselen and van Onselen (2007).

²For further information on the mass party and catch-all party models, see Duverger (1954) and Kirchheimer (1966).

³‘On message’ is a term the parties use to refer to MPs and candidates sticking to the prescribed script. During political campaigns, parties try to present uniform messages daily to ensure that no red herring ideas or issues dilute the message the party is try to portray in the media. This is the raw edge of the all-important PR role of using media outlets to distribute a party message beyond the medium of advertising.

⁴In the second half of 2006, the authors spoke with a number of Labor Party campaign professionals, including one State Secretary, responsible for the oversight of secure web site usage in his State, and a campaign manager for an ALP marginal seat with access to the party's secure web site at the 2005 WA State election. These interviews and discussions helped the authors establish that the Intranet systems of both major parties were relatively similar.

⁵The GMS is a taxpayer-funded unit located in Parliament House with the express purpose of assisting government MPs. The GMS helps Coalition MPs with the administration of their party databases and the production of campaign materials. During the lifetime of the Howard Coalition government, it has also been responsible for some of the uploading of information onto the Liberal Party's secure web site when the secure web site becomes operational. For more information on the resources and role of the GMS, see Errington and van Onselen (2005).

⁶‘Duty Senatorship’ is a term both major parties use to describe the role of a senator assisting House of Representatives candidates (incumbent or non-incumbent). It should be noted that, in their pre-parliamentary backgrounds, a large number of major party senators have previously worked as central party operatives. As such, they are likely to maintain a high degree of central party loyalty, even when assisting local candidates in their duty roles. This becomes a further avenue for central party oversight in local campaigns. For further information on Duty Senatorship, see van Onselen and Errington (2005).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Peter van Onselen

Ainslie van Onselen is a lecturer in law in the School of Law and Justice at Edith Cowan University. Peter van Onselen is an associate professor in politics and government in the School of Communications and Arts at Edith Cowan University.