The quiet Australians

Last updated

"The quiet Australians" is an expression that was used by Australian politician Scott Morrison when his Liberal/National Coalition unexpectedly won the 2019 Australian federal election on 18 May 2019, meaning Morrison would continue as Prime Minister of Australia. [1] [2] Describing the outcome as a miracle, Morrison stated that "the quiet Australians ... have won a great victory": [3]

Contents

This is, this is the best country in the world in which to live. It is those Australians that we have been working for, for the last five and a half years since we came to Government, under Tony Abbott's leadership back in 2013. It has been those Australians who have worked hard every day, they have their dreams, they have their aspirations; to get a job, to get an apprenticeship, to start a business, to meet someone amazing. To start a family, to buy a home, to work hard and provide the best you can for your kids. To save your retirement and to ensure that when you're in your retirement, that you can enjoy it because you've worked hard for it. These are the quiet Australians who have won a great victory tonight.

Morrison used this term prior to the election stating "Too many of us have been quiet for too long and it's time to speak up", and "To those quiet Australians who are out there, now is not the time to turn back". [4] [5] After the election, he compared Quiet Australians to Robert Menzies's "forgotten people" and John Howard's "battlers". [6] In December, when congratulating Boris Johnson for winning the 2019 United Kingdom general election, Morrison asked him to "say g'day to the quiet Britons for us". [7]

The term "The Quiet Australians" has been referenced by media outlets and commentators. [2] [8] [9] Stan Grant wrote that "Retirees, middle-class parents, and those dependent on the mining industry for their livelihoods all felt they were in the firing line. Christian leaders now say that religious freedom was a sleeper issue that turned votes in critical marginal seats. Throughout the world, long-silent voices are making themselves heard and it is shaking up politics as usual. People are saying they want to belong and they want their leaders to put them first". [10] The Guardian compared Morrison's Quiet Australians to Richard Nixon's "silent majority." [11]

Media outlets have been investigating who the Quiet Australians might be. The Australian referred to voters who ignored messaging that "presumed to tell them how to think and what to do" and voted for a Prime Minister that "spoke not over but right to them". [12] SBS News stated that "They don't make a lot of noise online or call into radio stations, they don't campaign in the streets or protest outside parliament". [13]

The Australian Financial Review used data from the Australian Election Study to define Quiet Australians as being "increasingly disaffected with the political system, and that Education surpassed income as the demographic characteristic most correlated with a swing to either major party". Moreover, the "election also saw the re-emergence of religion as a political force". [14] ABC's Q&A 's panelists discussed the 2019 election results in an episode titled "First Australians and Quiet Australians". [15]

The Order of Australia Association uses the term "Quiet Australians" for its collection of stories embodied within the service rendered by award recipients to serve as a national resource to inspire and educate Australians. [16]

2022 Australian federal election

3 years later, the result of the 2022 Australian federal election was a loss for Morrison's Coalition. The Opposition Labor Party formed majority government, with Anthony Albanese as the new Prime Minister. The Australian Greens had unprecedented success, and several Liberal seats were lost to teal independents. [17]

In the leadup to the election, media outlets and politicians invoked the Quiet Australians:

Senior Liberal MP and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg played down polls suggesting he was in danger of losing the blue-ribbon (very safe Liberal) seat of Kooyong, by saying “There are many – as the Prime Minister calls them – quiet Australians out there.” [18] Frydenberg ended up losing the seat to teal independent Monique Ryan.

The Sydney Morning Herald published an opinion piece on various types of voters in Australia, and quoted Rodney Tiffen, a Sydney University political science professor, who identified the label as more of a tactical grouping and an assertion that the loudest opinions may not be the majority, rather than a distinct group. The article compared the quiet Australians with the "Canberra bubble" - a term for political insiders who are out of touch with the expectations of mainstream Australian society. [19]

The Guardian argued that while in the previous election Morrison targeted quiet Australians, this time he was instead appealing to anxious Australian parents by focusing on transgender people in a "culture war" [20]

After the election, media outlets attempted to explain the result by again invoking the quiet Australians:

Sky News Australia argued that the Liberals should support the construction of a nuclear power industry, as an alternative to fossil fuels, to win back quiet Australians who had deserted the party for teal independents who campaigned for action on anthropogenic climate change. [21]

Paul Osborne, writing for the Australian Associated Press, argued that Morrison had angered the quiet Australians and turned them "cranky." [22]

Peter Hartcher wrote in Sydney Morning Herald that "the quiet Australians spoke and they said 'enough.'" Hartcher argued that Morrison had tried to transform the Liberals into a right wing populist party and thus had lost the support of fiscal conservatives and liberals to teals, while at the same time Morrison's failures of crisis leadership had lost working-class and middle-class seats to Labor. Hartcher identified all these groups as quiet Australians. [23]

The Guardian commented on the Greens campaign strategy of mass door-knocking and conversations with voters, reporting that the Greens planned to repeat this "social work" strategy to target quiet Australians. [24]

Morrison stepped down as Liberal leader and commented on his election loss, saying he looked forward to going back to being a quiet Australian in the shire of Sydney. [25]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Division of Kooyong is an Australian Electoral Division for the Australian House of Representatives in the state of Victoria, which covers an area of approximately 59 km2 (23 sq mi) in the inner-east of Melbourne. It contains the affluent suburbs of Balwyn, Balwyn North, Camberwell, Canterbury, Deepdene, Kew, Kew East, Mont Albert, Mont Albert North, Surrey Hills and parts of Glen Iris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zali Steggall</span> Australian politician and alpine skier

Zali Steggall is an Australian politician, lawyer and former Winter Olympic athlete. She has been the independent member for Warringah since the 2019 Australian federal election when she defeated the incumbent, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Frydenberg</span> Australian former politician (born 1971)

Joshua Anthony Frydenberg is an Australian former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2018 to 2022. He also served as a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Kooyong from 2010 to 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Morrison</span> Prime Minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022

Scott John Morrison is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales division of Cook from 2007 until 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angus Taylor (politician)</span> Australian politician

Angus Taylor is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2013, representing the seat of Hume for the Liberal Party. He has been shadow treasurer under Peter Dutton since 2022, having previously been a cabinet minister in the Morrison government from 2018 to 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trent Zimmerman</span> Australian politician

Trent Moir Zimmerman is an Australian former politician. He was elected to succeed Joe Hockey as the Liberal Party of Australia member of the House of Representatives seat of North Sydney at the 2015 by-election. Zimmerman was one of eight openly LGBT current members of the Parliament of Australia and the first openly LGBTI member of the House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Australian federal election</span> Election for the 46th Parliament of Australia

The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissolution federal election. All 151 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 of the 76 seats in the Senate were up for election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">45th Parliament of Australia</span> Federal parliamentary term in Australia (2016–2019)

The 45th Parliament of Australia was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Australian federal government, composed of the Australian Senate and the Australian House of Representatives. It met in Canberra from 30 August 2016 to 4 April 2019. The 2016 general election held on 2 July gave the Coalition of the Liberal and National Parties control of the House, albeit with a slimmer majority than the 44th Parliament, allowing their leader Malcolm Turnbull to stay in office as the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. During the term of the parliament, the government slipped into minority due to defections and by-elections. The leadership of the government also changed during the parliament, when Scott Morrison replaced Turnbull as Liberal Leader and Prime Minister in August 2018. The 45th Parliament was officially prorogued by the Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove at 8:29 a.m. on 11 April 2019, and the House of Representatives dissolved at 8:30 a.m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spills</span> Leader selection contests within Australias then governing party

Leadership spills of the federal parliamentary leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia were held on 21 and 24 August 2018 and were called by the incumbent leader of the party, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morrison government</span> Australian government, 2018–2022

The Morrison government was the federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison government commenced on 24 August 2018, when it was sworn in by the Governor-General of Australia. It was composed of members of the Liberal–National Coalition and succeeded the Abbott (2013–2015) and Turnbull (2015–2018) coalition governments in office, competing against the Australian Labor Party as the major Opposition party. Nationals Leader Michael McCormack was Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from the formation of the Morrison government until June 2021. He was replaced as Leader of the Nationals and Deputy Prime Minister by Barnaby Joyce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Morrison ministry</span> 71st ministry of government of Australia

The first Morrison ministry was the 71st ministry of the Government of Australia. It was led by Prime Minister, Scott Morrison. The Morrison ministry succeeded the second Turnbull ministry, which dissolved on 24 August 2018 following the Liberal Party leadership spills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Australian federal election</span> Election for the 47th Parliament of Australia

The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth consecutive term in office but was defeated by the opposition Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese. Up for election were all 151 seats in the lower house, the House of Representatives, as well as 40 of the 76 seats in the upper house, the Senate.

The Australian federal election debates of 2019 were a series of leaders' debates between the leaders of the two main parties contesting the 2019 Australian federal election: Scott Morrison, Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party; and Bill Shorten, Leader of the Opposition and Labor Party.

In the lead-up to the 2022 Australian federal election, a number of polling companies conducted regular opinion polls for various news organisations. These polls collected data on parties' primary vote, and contained an estimation of the two-party-preferred vote. They also asked questions about the electorates' views on major party leaders. Key polling companies are YouGov, Essential Media Communications, Roy Morgan Research, and Resolve Strategic.

2020s in Australia political history refers to political history of Australia in the 2020s, presented in narrative format.

The Voices for or Voices of groups are a series of loosely related political community engagement groups in Australia. Some of the groups have endorsed candidates to run as candidates in federal elections. The independence of some of the candidates endorsed by some groups has been disputed, with some candidates receiving significant funding from the Climate 200 fund backed by energy investor Simon Holmes à Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Next Australian federal election</span> Election for the 48th Parliament of Australia

The next Australian federal election will be held on or before 27 September 2025 to elect members of the 48th Parliament of Australia. All 150 seats in the House of Representatives and likely 40 of the 76 seats in the Senate will be contested. It is expected that at this election, the Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be seeking re-election to a second term in office, opposed by the Liberal/National Coalition under Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monique Ryan</span> Australian paediatric neurologist and MP for Kooyong

Monique Marie Ryan is an Australian politician and former paediatric neurologist. She is currently the independent Member of Parliament for the Division of Kooyong, Victoria, having won the seat at the 2022 federal election.

Teal independents, simply known as teals and also called community independents, are a loosely-aligned group of centrist, independent or minor party politicians in Australian politics. They have been characterised as strongly advocating for increased action to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions along with improved political integrity and accountability. They also generally share socially liberal outlooks, including on issues such as LGBT rights, and have harnessed grassroots campaigning to achieve strong swings towards them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election</span>

A leadership election of the Liberal Party of Australia was held on 30 May 2022, following the defeat of the Scott Morrison government at the 2022 federal election and the resignation of Morrison as party leader. The newly elected leader would become Leader of the Opposition to the Labor Party government of Anthony Albanese. A separate leadership spill for the Liberal Party's Coalition partner National Party was also held on the same day.

References

  1. ↑ "Tally Room". Australian Electoral Commission.
  2. 1 2 Murphy, Katharine; Martin, Sarah (18 May 2019). "Scott Morrison credits 'quiet Australians' for 'miracle' election victory". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "Speech Sydney". Prime Minister of Australia. 18 May 2019. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  4. ↑ Rennie, Susan (15 January 2019). "We are not anti-Australia Day, just not on January 26". The Age.
  5. ↑ Livingston, Angus (9 May 2019). "Morrison bids for quiet australians". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  6. ↑ Bramston, Troy (8 October 2019). "Rise of the quiet achiever". The Weekend Australian. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  7. ↑ "'Say g'day to the quiet Britons': Scott Morrison congratulates Boris Johnson on win". SBS News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  8. ↑ "ScoMo's quiet Australians reject Labor's big government dogma". Australian Financial Review. 20 May 2019. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  9. ↑ Jones, Anna (18 May 2019). "2019 Australian election: As it happened". BBC News. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  10. ↑ Grant, Stan (21 May 2019). "Scott Morrison Won Australia's Election Against All Odds. It Shouldn't Have Come as a Surprise". Foreign Policy.
  11. ↑ Nunn, Gary (30 July 2019). "How good are quiet Australians! ScoMo's language legacy". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  12. ↑ Overington, Caroline (22 May 2019). "Quiet Australians heard loud and clear in Coalition election win". The Australian. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  13. ↑ "Morrison bids for 'quiet Australian' vote". SBS News. 9 May 2019. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  14. ↑ Seo, Bo (24 May 2019). "'Quiet Australians' are disaffected and divided". The Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  15. ↑ "First Australians and Quiet Australians". ABC. 27 May 2019.
  16. ↑ "About Us". The Order of Australia Association. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  17. ↑ Visontay, Elias (21 May 2022). "Australia election: conservative government voted out after nearly a decade". The Observer. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  18. ↑ Ransley, Ellen (12 May 2022). "Josh Frydenberg says Morrison government putting faith in 'quiet majority'". news.com.au. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  19. ↑ Wade, Matt (20 May 2022). "From battlers to basket weavers: a guide to Australia's voter types". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  20. ↑ Murphy, Katharine (10 May 2022). "If the last campaign targeted the quiet Australians, this time Morrison is appealing to the anxious ones". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  21. ↑ Cousens, Daisy (1 June 2022). "Going nuclear will help the Liberals win back the 'quiet Australians' who deserted the party for the Teals". Sky News Australia. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  22. ↑ Osborne, Paul (18 May 2022). "Federal election 2022: Bulldozer PM gets quiet Australians cranky". perthnow. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  23. ↑ Hartcher, Peter (21 May 2022). "The quiet Australians spoke and they said 'enough'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  24. ↑ Smee, Ben (4 June 2022). "Knock-on effect: Greens to target 'quiet Australians' with winning campaign template". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  25. ↑ Hitch, Georgia (26 May 2022). "Scott Morrison looking forward to being 'a quiet Australian' after federal election loss". ABC Australia. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.