5 Lessons Australia’s Major Parties Need to Consider for the Next Election

Commentary

There currently seems to be a lot of unrest in this great country of ours.

People are unhappy with the cost of living, anxious about what harm AI can do, concerned about immigration, housing, crime, national debt, personal debt, a loss of freedom, privacy, and more.

And with all this, naturally, they are annoyed with government. If there is a positive side to this mass annoyance, it is that the major political parties are now more visible and more public. They are currently in “vote for me” mode.

And of course, who could forget the orange-wave effect. The rise of conservative-leaning One Nation has the major political parties worried—not that they would ever admit it.

In this article, I offer advice for all voters to consider and, by extension, for any political leader or adviser willing to engage with it. It is advice that I believe will enable their party to do a better job, and that can only benefit Australians.

For ease of reading, I am going to simplify matters and suggest that the major political parties have two main concerns: the wellbeing of Australians, and their own survival. Both are legitimate concerns, but the major parties must get the balance right.

With self-preservation being a primal instinct, I think the major parties are currently focusing too much on their own survival. This will only result in Australians continuing to suffer.

What follows are five lessons for the major parties to consider.

Lesson 1: You don’t make yourself look good by continually rubbishing your opponent. It is a cheap shot to accuse any party or politician of not caring for Australians.

I squirm when I hear a political leader start with, “They simply don’t care,” or similar. A better response would be, “While they might care for Australians … their strategies are unlikely to work for the following reasons ….”

While those making the cheap shots get lots of likes, clicks, and applause, they typically don’t deliver where it counts. Something for voters to keep in mind.

Lesson 2: Avoid cheap political stunts. Turning one’s back on a political opponent in parliament or anywhere, is pathetic.

Grow up. For politicians who do this, while it may impress your followers, it does nothing to gain you new voters, which brings me to lesson 3.

Lesson 3: Good leaders step outside the echo chamber to exchange ideas with those who may disagree with them.

Given the divisiveness of society, it can be difficult for political leaders to get their messages in media viewed predominately by those who oppose them.

I get it, they are often limited to relying on media that are friendly towards them. The Left mostly use Left-leaning media and the Right mostly use Right-leaning media.

However, I think a good strategy is to deliver your message with the assumption that it could be viewed by an opponent or those who are undecided.

Lesson 4: Intellectual giant, Thomas Sowell, suggested that, “When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.”

Too many political leaders just tell the people what they want they want to hear. But the people need to hear messages they may not like. They need to hear politicians deliver messages like, “I was wrong” or “This is going to be tough for all of us.”

Here’s a truth many don’t want to hear: while the public are quick to blame government for every problem, they need to know they also have a responsibility and part to play.

Further, within any population there are loafers—those who expect others clean up their mess. For each such lazy person, 10 others have to work extra hard just to keep this country afloat. Which politician wants to deliver that message?

Lesson 5: If you believe your political opponent has flaws, focus on three or four of the major ones; not 54.

Professor Adam Grant in his excellent book “Think Again” suggests that offering several reasons to justify our argument, actually dilutes our strongest arguments.

Those politicians who present a shopping list of criticisms about their opponents lack credibility and are clutching for straws.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.