"More Like a Swagman than a Parliamentary Candidate": Federal Election Meetings in Rural New South Wales and Victoria, 1910–22. (1st May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Monnox, Chris
• Is Part Of: Labour history. Volume 114(2018)
• Page Start: 37
• Page End: 51
• Publication Date: 2018-05-01
• Subjects: Public Meetings -- Election Campaigns -- Electioneering -- Australian Elections -- Public Speech; Labor -- Australia -- History -- Periodicals; Labor unions -- Australia -- History -- Periodicals; 331.0994
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0023-6942

Abstract

Abstract : Public meetings were one of the key electioneering methods employed in early twentieth-century Australia. These meetings and the beliefs that surrounded them did much to shape the era's broader approach to electioneering. Rural candidates embarked on extensive tours of their constituencies, reinforcing a political culture focused on local representatives. Wide-ranging networks of party supporters were required to organise and publicise these tours, and so the public meeting also helped sustain a need for large party memberships. Meetings could be used to target some voter groups, but the time-consuming character of candidates' tours meant that this potential was not often fully realised in the country.