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A collage graphic of prominent Australian politicians making speeches.
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Showing 12 results of 49

Malcolm Fraser – 1975
The Australian people face a historic decision on December 13. On that day, we will be deciding the future of our country. Let us all as Australians determine to restore prosperity, defeat inflation and provide jobs for all. Let us all as Australians decide to reward initiative and encourage achievement. Let us decide to realise at last the aspirations of all Australians for security, self-respect and for freedom to control our own lives. This election results from the dishonesty and...
  • agriculture
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  • employment
  • health
  • immigration
  • Indigenous affairs
  • industrial relations
  • socialism
Malcolm Fraser – 1983
Australians have never had a clearer choice than at this election. It is the Liberal Party that is preserving and building a free society. It is the Liberal Party that is working to fulfil the hopes of all Australians. It is the Liberal Party alone that can keep building for the future. We govern for all Australians whether their families have lived here for generations or only a few years. We encourage all Australians to contribute their best to the best nation on earth. This election gives...
  • crime
  • defence
  • economy
  • education
  • employment
  • environment
  • family
  • foreign affairs
  • industrial relations
  • social security
  • water
Bill Hayden – 1980
Fellow Australians… The policies I am privileged to put to you tonight are proposals for all Australians. They are policies we believe will begin the task of restoring equality of opportunity and national pride to our country and dignity and fair play to all our people. They are policies to bring Australians together, not drive them apart… policies that unite our country … policies that allow all Australians to share our national good fortune and to play their part in the development of our...
  • defence
  • economy
  • education
  • employment
  • family
  • foreign affairs
  • health
  • infrastructure
  • social security
Bob Hawke – 1983
And the first pledge I now make, a commitment which embraces every other undertaking, is that everything we do as a Government will have the one great goal - to reunite this great community of ours, to bring out the best we are truly capable of, together, as a nation, and bring Australia together to win our way through the crisis into which the policies of the past and the men of the past have plunged our country. For the facts are there – stark and grim – for every Australian to see seven years...
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  • environment
  • foreign affairs
  • health
  • Indigenous affairs
  • infrastructure
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  • sport
  • women
Bob Hawke – 1984
My fellow Australians, When from this place in February 1983 I first asked for your support, I sought from you an act of great trust. Our nation was then in deep crisis – the worst economic crisis for more than fifty years, and a searing crisis of the national spirit, after a decade of confrontation and division. Unprecedented circumstances demanded unprecedented responses. Therefore, on behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I asked for your support, your co-operation – and your active...
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  • women
Bob Hawke – 1987
Fellow Australians, Never in peace-time has Australia’s future depended so much on a single decision – your decision on the 11th of July. Never have you, the Australian people, been called upon to – make a more fundamental decision for yourselves, your families – your children – about the way you want your country to go – about what kind of a country you want Australia to be. It is a decision about what kind of a people we are. It is a decision about what kind of a nation we are going to be. Are...
  • defence
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  • employment
  • family
  • health
  • social security
John Howard – 1987
We all agree on at least one thing in this election campaign – our country is in a big economic mess, and we would like to see it put right. The burning question is how we do it? I believe the one and only way that Australia can get on top of its economic problems is to become more productive. That means giving everyone – you, me, your friends, your family, everybody else – more incentive, more encouragement and more reason to work harder. Everything that I am saying in this election campaign...
  • economy
  • employment
  • family
  • government administration
  • health
  • industrial relations
John Howard – 2007
Deputy Prime Minister, Treasurer, my Lord Mayor, my Ministerial and Parliamentary colleagues, my fellow Australians. I want first of all to say how proud I am to be delivering this speech on behalf of a great and strong and enduring Coalition between the Liberal Party and the National Party. Our two great parties have shared 11 and a half years in office, and we have fought for the best interests of the Australian people, wherever they might live, and the speeches you heard earlier from Peter...
  • climate change
  • crime
  • economy
  • education
  • employment
  • environment
  • family
  • Indigenous affairs
Paul Keating – 1993
Let there be no mistake. This is the most important election in memory. Today we stand against radical right-wing proposals which are hostile to fundamental Australian beliefs and Australian institutions and all that we have achieved in recent years. Not new proposals, but old ones. Proposals which have been tried in other countries and which in every case have failed – at great social and economic cost. Dr. Hewson says these other countries did not try hard enough. He is nothing if not zealous...
  • arts
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  • education
  • employment
  • environment
  • family
  • health
  • social security
  • water
  • women
Paul Keating – 1996
Three years ago, I asked the people of Australia to entrust to Labor the most important responsibility a government can have – I asked Australians for a mandate to create jobs and help the unemployed. To create jobs, I asked Australians to give Labor the task of creating sustainable economic growth on which jobs depend. To create jobs, I sought a mandate to make Australia stronger; to find our place in Asia and the Pacific; to encourage the industries of the future; to massively expand education...
  • arts
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  • economy
  • education
  • employment
  • environment
  • foreign affairs
  • health
  • Indigenous affairs
  • industrial relations
  • social security
John Hewson – 1993
This election is not about John Hewson, and it is not about Paul Keating. We are servants of the people of Australia. This election is about the people of Australia and their problems. We hear about the debt rising to $200 billion, increasing by about $50 million a day, or $2 million an hour. We hear about the fact that there are 1,017,600 Australians who can’t find work and nearly as many others who can’t find as much work as they want. We hear about the 700,000 children who live in homes where...
  • economy
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  • health
  • industrial relations
  • infrastructure
  • social security
Kim Beazley – 1998
Nearly 100 years ago, our forebears created a new nation on this continent – a land to which people from all over the world could come to make a contribution. As we enter a new century, we face again the same challenge that confronted our nation’s founders. Can we come together, and put petty rivalries and differences aside, and build a new nation for a new century? We’re here in an election campaign that will decide how Australia enters that century – our second century as a nation. But above...
  • economy
  • education
  • employment

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Discover patterns in political speech

Explore how language in Australian election speeches has evolved – from the rise of terms like internet and terrorism, to shifts in readability and speech length over time.

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The Museum of Australian Democracy acknowledges Australia's First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We respectfully acknowledge the role that First Nations people continue to play in shaping Australia's democracy. We also acknowledge the Ngunnawal, Ngunawal and Ngambri peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the region in which MoAD is located. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices and names of deceased people.

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