AUSTRALIA/FILE: Australian voters question negative campaigns in upcoming election

Record ID: 346828

  • Title: AUSTRALIA/FILE: Australian voters question negative campaigns in upcoming election
  • Date: 3rd September 2013
  • Summary: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (SEPTEMBER 3, 2013) (REUTERS) JENNA PRICE, JOURNALISM LECTURER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY IN HER OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY JENNA PRICE, SAYING: "I would say that there's been plenty of low lights and not many high lights. I would say that they are kind of bickering like two small boys and they haven't yet de
  • Embargoed: 18th September 2013 13:00
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  • Location: Australia
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEKZ8YHDGVH9UEWEO7BAH82ZEZ
  • Story Text: Just days away from Australia's federal election on September 7, voters question the negativity of the parties' campaigns.


    The TV advertisements warn that 'if he wins, you lose,' and ask 'what are you hiding.' It is the tone of Australia's hard fought election campaign that ends on Saturday (September 7), with a vote that is expected to oust Kevin Rudd's ruling Labor Party in favour of Tony Abbott's Liberal National Coalition.
    "I would say that there's been plenty of low lights and not many high lights. I would say that they are kind of bickering like two small boys and they haven't yet decided who's got the best grasp of the territory. I think that no-one has landed any killer blows. The local media has absolutely decided to pan Rudd. It's absolutely gone to town. Anything he does wrong, blows his nose the wrong way he's in trouble yet the international media is more in support of the Labor government than our local media," said Jenna Price, a media specialist at the University of Technology Sydney.
    Both sides of the political divide have run negative TV campaign advertisements attacking their opponent's record or competency and Price wonders if the tactic could backfire.
    "Australians are not stupid and I really think they are going to eventually come to a time where they say 'this was too much. I don't want to be told what to think. I want the evidence so I can make up my mind what to think," she said.
    Voters walking in the sunshine near the Opera House on Tuesday (September 3) were unanimous in their condemnation of negative campaigning but could not agree which side was worse.
    "One side has been negative for the last three years and the other side is partly catching up but that's politics," said Phil Drew, a retired trades union official.
    "In football you get penalised if you go for the man and not the ball so you are not trying to kick a goal you are just trying to destroy the other person and I think this campaign has been all about someone going for the man and not the ball so they've missed the objective," said David Carr, who described himself as both a lawyer and a farmer and was highly critical of the Labor campaign.
    Natalie Kazzi, an Australian who lives in Switzerland and a manager with a multinational company, said the country's AAA credit rating would be the envy of most European economies.
    "In general Australia is seen as the lucky country and is still seen as so and even the carbon tax if you think about it isn't such a big deal as they make it out to be here so it probably brings you on par with the rest of the leading nations throughout the world," Kazzi said.
    Rudd returned as premier on June 26 after his party dumped Julia Gillard, the country's first female prime minister, due to a prolonged slump in opinion polls. But the polls now point to a big defeat for his ruling minority Labor Party.
    Tony Abbott, who leads the conservative opposition, can take office if he wins just one extra seat in the parliament's 150-seat lower house.
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