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If Ben Carroll is right, over the next few weeks a talking dog could swing the Victorian election, and sensible political discourse in this country is, if not dead, struggling for breath.
He’s on to something, but he’s part of it. The lack of substance from all parties is defining this campaign.
Business is pleading for serious discussion, economists say nothing adds up, the politicians are willing to stand on their heads for attention but won’t answer questions directly, and both sides thrash around looking for damaging tricks rather than debating constructive strategies for recovery.
This is how silly it has become: despite polls putting Labor well behind, each of the three leaders insists they will become premier, that there will be no increased taxes, and that debt can be brought under control with little or no pain to the people.
Despite that ballooning debt crisis, they continue to spend on promises, rejecting the inflationary impact.
It’s the magic pudding strategy, described in Norman Lindsay’s famous book which although it’s 108 years old still nails political spin through the eyes of the koala Bunyip Bluegum.
Lindsay’s theme is that you can eat what you like and Albert the pudding, in this case the budget, will repair itself. It’s the world of the inexhaustible resource, which sadly lives only in fantasy.
Underlying this dangerous game in Victoria are provocative social media posts, stupid AI tricks, staged ice cream eating and pothole filling, all pumped out in the belief stunts will win votes.
Over two weeks I have interviewed the three leaders, Carroll, Jess Wilson, Warren Pickering. There’s little detail. Deflection is common.
That’s where the talking dog comes in. Social media, the home of distortion, misrepresentation and the natural habitat of talking dogs, is leading the way.
Perhaps it’s a convenient excuse, but Ben Carroll suggests it’s robbing the leaders of the ability to be frank and engage the voters in genuine discussion about problems and options.
He argues social media has become so powerful and easily manipulated that political leaders are locked into talking points, afraid to say anything in case they provide something which is taken out of context and damages their campaign.
To expand that, if AI produces a cute talking dog that spouts entertaining political messages it can manipulate the algorithm to send material to people who normally wouldn’t engage with politics but love talking dogs.
Moreover, words can be massaged or sliced into a 20-second “grab” to give a misleading impression.
Both main leaders can complain about that. Wilson did not directly support the “Americanisation” of the health system, but Labor social media strongly suggested she did.
During an interview with Carroll on my podcast, Mitchell Unlimited, I asked whether he accepted Victoria was in a mess. He denied it. I listed the problems – potholes, debt, business confidence, high taxation, crime etc etc. He continued to deny it and explained why he thought Labor had done a good job in difficult circumstances. It was not a disaster. It was clumsy.
The Liberals cut it sharply and circulated it, editing out his explanation of why he didn’t think it was Labor’s fault.
Within days, it switched. Liberals privately objected to an Instagram post of Jess Wilson deflecting questions from me on spending, claiming it was unfairly edited. Nonsense. She dodged questions and it showed exactly that.
Edits on social media are unavoidable – it’s a snapshot. It has to be. The digital attention span for an average person has been assessed at 47 seconds. For young voters, it’s probably much shorter.
What the Liberals did to Carroll was not dishonest. It accentuated a bad moment. Same with the post of Wilson. That’s politics. Both highlighted legitimate issues with the leaders.
The reach of this stuff is extraordinary. Within a week more than 3 million people had viewed Ben Carroll’s awkwardness. There are only 4.7 million voters in Victoria. Wilson’s “moment” had more than 500,000 in a few days.
All this proved what Carroll had said before it happened:
“Because of the clicks and the algorithms I can sit in an interview and one little sentence gets taken out of context.
“It’s how our different opponents will use one soundbite out of context. I’ve seen it not just for me; I’ve seen it for the opposition leader. Context is important and I think unfortunately with social media and algorithms, people’s attention spans aren’t what they were.”
Social media has proven power and it will only grow. A few weeks ago the 81-year-old Brazilian president, who had never owned an iPhone, flipped an election within 21 days by building a social media campaign from nothing .
Former premier Daniel Andrews built his successful 2022 election strategy around social media, making announcements on complex projects with headline statements and little detail. Carroll is perhaps proving he’s the anti-Dan by criticising social media, although his office still uses it extensively.
As we head into the election’s final days, Wilson, clearly in front, behaves like a leader with more to lose. She sees danger in every question.
Carroll is calm, like a man who suspects he is beaten. Pickering is a spoiler having fun. Despite insisting he will be premier, he can’t actually believe that.
All will claim to have been dudded by their opponents. But in Victoria there is no law requiring truth in political advertising. Theoretically, it is illegal to tell you Bob’s Beaut Oats guarantee eternal life but not illegal for politicians to promise it.
Five years ago, a joint parliamentary committee tried to improve transparency, warning “inaccurate information poses a serious threat to elections”.
It recommended limiting the negative impact of social media and creating new laws to ensure truth in political campaign advertising. Nothing has happened. Self-interest? Perhaps.
If government had listened, today’s campaign might not be quite so artificial and evasive. But then who could ever expect a modern politician to mandate truth in anything?
An informed decision in this election is crucial. Good luck with that. In many ways we’re voting blind.
Neil Mitchell hosts the podcast Mitchell Unlimited. His interviews with Carroll and Wilson are available now. Warren Pickering will be posted next Friday.
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