Australia's First Internet Election?

Australia's First Internet Election?

The Internet is increasingly being recognised as a powerful communications tool and no more so than in the political environment. The current US election is demonstrating how the Internet can be used to energise and inform the electorate.

Former Democrat Presidential candidate, Howard Dean, used the Internet to great effect by turning himself from a relatively unknown Governor of a small State into a national figure and early front runner to confront President George W Bush.

While Howard Dean was not ulitmately successful in gaining the Democrat Presidential nomination, he has been credited with using the Internet to great effect. He raised tens of millions of dollars and recruited thousands of supporters during his campaign.

US President, George W Bush and his Democratic opponent, Senator John Kerry are now using the Internet to get their message out to voters and more importantly enthuse voters to donate, vote and campaign.

At the same time, a wide range of American activists are also using the Internet to inform voters of the issues they think are important. Specific campaign websites as well as thousands of blogs are in operation allowing candidates and individuals to express their views to the world and the electorate.

Initial analysis on the impact of the Internet on political campaigning is indicating that websites such as these are now a necessary part of the process. They are, however, not replacing, but rather supplementing, the more traditional campaigning techniques such as direct mail, door knocking and community activities.

What the Internet does appear to be doing for political campaigning is tapping into a growing group of voters who are looking for more detailed information about candidates, policies and news. These voters are seeking information directly from candiates or groups whom they have some interest in rather than having that information filtered through the mainstream media.

It is clear though that in the United States at least, the Internet has become a very powerful tool to inform, educate and recruit supporters.

In Australia, our mainstream political parties have not yet embraced the new technology in the same fashion as their American counterparts.

Notably though, it is clear the more Internet savvy and active political enthusiasts are now starting to use the World Wide Web to not only have their say, but to energise voters.

How the mainstream political parties and others will use the Internet during the forthcoming Australian Federal election and its impact is still unclear.

What is clear though is that Australians are increasingly getting their information from the Web, as the latest statistics from the National Office of the Information Economy show with more than 75 percent of Australian adults (16 years and over) having access to the Internet.

In addition, access and use of the Internet continues to expand with recent figures showing each user in Australia accessing the Internet on average more than 18 times per month.

Those responsible for political campaigns should note that the Internet is being used more and more to access information and news related to government, with 34 percent of all Internet users accessing Government websites in 2003 (up from 27 percent in 2002). Internet users accessing Government sites do so for an average of more than 21 minutes per month and 29% of broadband users accessed the Internet for “special interest news”.

Something to watch in coming months will be how Australian political websites develop and are used. The 2004 Australian Federal election may be the first where the Internet impacts on voters and the outcome.

Some of the more prominent mainstream and non-mainstream political sites are listed below.

Politcal Party Web Sites:

www.liberal.org.au
www.alp.org.au
www.nationals.org.au
www.greens.org.au
www.democrats.org.au

Non-Mainstream Political Web Sites:

www.crikey.com.au
www.pollbludger.com
www.onlineopinion.com.au
www.ozelections.com
www.nothappyjohn.com
www.johnhowardlies.com
www.marklathamsucks.com
www.liarsforhoward.org