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Stanley on Power to the People So now we are people.No wonder even the East Timor parliamentarians rejected our begging for attention.Did the people decide ... more
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Barb on What you don't see in a campaign I see! I see! I see!Very very big knife for very very big stab for Lady as counting results brings Tony to Top. No running ... more
Sally on Dance of the reluctant brides Lenny must be suffering from acute entrails problems as his red medusa idol lately. The eennnnnnd of the wwwwooorrrlldd is ... more
Hughes on Yes We Will .. Will We? I suspect Lenny is a tree hugger and BBrowntongue is expecting to ride on Labor prefs at the cost of Labor itself. They ... more
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baron of bentleigh on Yes We Will .. Will We? I am in Crean's electorate and most of us in line have switched sides. We are making our vote count and putting Labour and ... more
Lenny on Yes We Will .. Will We? Sue, only an ignorant self serving imbecile would vote for the Liberals. The Rabbit couldn't manage a game of two up~! ... more
peed off on How to vote in Federal Election I would like to know if either party is going to do anything about changing the policies in the department of housing. Wait ... more
Brendan Mason on How to vote in Federal Election I used to believe in compulsory voting but now only want people with fair dinkum opinions to vote. Those who don't care ... more
Brendan Mason on It ain't over til it's over The fear of the Liberals is of what may or MAY NOT happen where as we know what to fear of Labor...house fires, rorts, ... more
David on It ain't over til it's over Lets not give this incompotent government another term. more
mylene on Yes We Will .. Will We? Lots of people say if the election result doesn't go their way they'll leave the country but I'll bet anything that nobody ... more
Danny on It ain't over til it's over Gillarding is the word.You will wake up on Sunday You will wake up on Sunday You will wake up on Sunday, will you really, ... more
janet page on It ain't over til it's over Just remember people when you vote tomorrow, you are Not voting for an Individual, but a political party, and the parties ... more
janet page on Power to the People If you want people power, Look up the, Senate on Line Party. more
janet page on It ain't over til it's over Labor has announced it will sell off the multi billion dollar Broad Band, that we the people will be forced to pay for. And ... more
steve murphy on Juila will and Tony will not? Gerard, It is the one big question that hasn't been answered during the campaign. What will it cost me to access 100mbps? ... more
Kevin H on Yes We Will .. Will We? I hope Labor wins and the GST goes up to 40-50%, petrol 5$ a litre and more, bank rates at 19.7% as it was with the last ... more

What you don't see in a campaign

Posted by: Steve Murphy | 20 August, 2010 - 5:57 PM

There are lots of initiatives in an election campaign that you don’t see because they don’t attract national media attention, but they are things that can swing votes and influenc e marginal seat outcomes, which is why national two party preferred polls are sometimes not reflective of what’s happening around the country.

There’s a classic example of this that has been occurring in Queensland and Western Australia.

For the majority of Australians, who live outside mining reliant communities, the Resources Super Profits Tax (RSPT), which played a part in triggering Kevin Rudd’s downfall, was perceived to have been fixed as a political issue, when Julia Gillard negotiated the Mineral Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) with Rio Tinto, X-Strata and BHP Billiton.

It disappeared off the front pages of the newspaper and from our television screens and from radio news services, but importantly it hasn’t disappeared in Central and Northern Queensland, some parts of central New South Wales and Western Australia generally. The former two regions being significant in determining the outcome of the election.

The WA based Association of Mining and Explorations Companies (AMEC) has been running television, radio and newspaper advertisements in marginal electorates for the past three weeks and over the next couple of days these posters will be towed around selected polling booths.

Click here to open PDF file

When you look at how close the polls are and the number of seats up for grabs that have mining communities in them, targeted campaign material such as these can have a significant impact as people look for last minute inspiration.

It’ll be interesting to see how the seats of Hasluck in WA and those such as Herbert and Leichardt in Queensland turn out tomorrow night.

Blog comments

I see! I see! I see!
Very very big knife for very very big stab for Lady as counting results brings Tony to Top. No running no hiding for Lady.
I see.

Barb Saturday 21 August, 2010 - 3:02 PM