A Matter of Trust

Today’s edition of The Australian suggests that Aussies are pessimistic and have stopped listening to the federal government. Economics writers Adam Creighton and David Uren propose that continuing uncertainty about job security has us all in a bit of a funk. What’s even worse? We’ve stopped listening. We’re not paying attention to the Abbott government’s attempts to regain control of the agenda via Operation Reset this week.  

“Pessimism is becoming a standard part of the current ethos,” said sociologist Hugh Mackay, who blames the insidious impact of the spread of business marketing techniques into political campaigns.

“If the sloganeering and branding persist, people will feel politics is being trivialised more and more, resulting in ever lower esteem for the process and the players,” Mr Mackay said.

The saddest face in Australian politics: Malcolm Turnbull

Business marketing techniques in the political sphere might have a role to play in our national mood, but so too does the chasm between what was promised by the Coalition prior to the election, and what has been delivered since. This climate of political ennui is a direct result of what the Coalition set out to develop when they were in Opposition: they wanted voters who were afraid of the status quo and distrustful of the government. They got their wish...and it got them elected.

Fifteen months later, the electorate still distrustful of their government, but this time it’s a different government. The approach goes far beyond economics: just look at the impact of the top three Coalition campaign slogans:

Stop the Boats

Regardless of intention, years of hearing ‘stop the boats’ and ‘off shore detention’ and ‘illegal refugees’ has made far too many Australians fearful of the people who are actually in those ragged little boats. Myth upon myth has been allowed to stand: myths about the amount of government allowance paid to refugees, the amount of crime committed by refugees, the standard of accommodation provided to refugees, about the religion and culture of these refugees and the dangers of allowing too many of “them” into “our” country.

The militaristic branding of Operation Sovereign Borders suggests that Team Australia is at war with the asylum seekers, rather than with those who operate the boats. Conservative politicians like Cory Bernardi, Jacqui Lambie and George Christensen support the myths, virtually unchallenged by the mainstream media and the obvious result? Fear. Fear of the brown Muslims in the boats. We can’t let them onto our precious land, lest we’re overrun with Sharia Law and gun-wielding criminals hiding under burqas.

The government’s decision to remain secretive about OSB hasn’t helped, particularly in light of the revelations about ‘on water matters’ on the ABC’s 7:30 last night. Keeping secrets is not a virtue in a society that values transparency and truth. 

Axe the Tax

A key plank of the Abbott campaign for government was their promise to repeal the dreaded Carbon Tax. The Coalition, clumsily aided by shock jocks and tabloid media, made their conservative audiences loathe the tax – and the doubt the reason for it – years before they ascended to government. The Coalition warned that Whyalla was going to be wiped off the map, and a leg of lamb was going to cost $100.

The tax was introduced and Whyalla remains as a functioning township where you can buy a decent leg of lamb for about $30. Australia survived the Carbon Tax, but the fear remains: fear of what might be introduced to replace it. In a unkind twist, those voters who aren’t afraid of the ‘cost’ of the Carbon Tax, or who believe that the benefits outweigh the risks, are terrified of the consequences of not having a national response to climate change.

Get the Budget Back Under Control

In order to accept the need to get the budget under control, we need to first accept that it was out of control. Despite Australia’s safe economic passage around the perimeter of the Global Financial Crisis, a rare Triple A Credit rating from all three ratings agencies, and Wayne Swan’s gong as Treasurer of the Year, the Coalition managed to convince a large slab of the population that Australia was sinking under the burden of massive debt and deficit we could never sustain. 

It was a relief to conservative voters when the Coalition won the election in September 2013, and the delicate Australian economy could be passed into the safe hands of Treasurer Joe Hockey. That relief has turned to pessimism, even for the Coalition’s most ardent supporters, when this year’s budget was unveiled, shattering pre-election promises, delivering less of something to almost everyone, and hitting the most vulnerable the hardest.

Pessimism is turning to incredulity now, as the Treasurer struggles to pass key measures of his much hated budget, seven months after it was brought down. In doubt are not only the Coalition’s commitment to policy promises, but also their ability to deliver them. Today’s growth figures just underlined the problem and confirmed that the government is somehow not delivering the results it promised.

“Listening” to the government is the probably not the best terminology the Creighton and Uren could have chosen to describe what’s not happening in the electorate. It’s more about not trusting or not believing than it is about not listening. 

Hugh Mackay in the Australian today:

“People are bewildered by what’s going on in politics — there’s a lot of eye-rolling stemming from a lack of trust in politicians,” he said, suggesting that Tony Abbott “personified” this for now, given the contrast between statements before and after the election.

This week’s attempt to "reset" the Coalition’s message hasn’t worked, and won’t. A 45 minute media conference by a distrusted politician can’t undo fear and suspicion built on years of focused campaigning. The pessimism, disengagement and cynicism are unlikely to reverse any time soon.