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A collage graphic of prominent Australian politicians making speeches.
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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...
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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
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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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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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Andrew Peacock – 1990
Politics is not about abstract theories. It is about people and how they want to live their lives. Sir Robert Menzies, founder of the Liberal Party, once said that a government must remember ‘the forgotten people’. Today, as Australia moves into the new decade, that mission is more important than ever. In the past few years, Australia has become a ship without a rudder. The fundamental truth is that our physical, human and financial resources are not being used in the most effective manner...
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  • government administration
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John Howard – 2004
Deputy Prime Minister, my fellow Australians. Eight and a half years ago it became my immense privilege and honour to become the Prime Minister of this wonderful country of ours. And over the eight and a half years, I have shared the hopes and aspirations and the dreams and the achievements of my fellow Australians. I have tried to feel the pain and the grief of those of my fellow Australians left saddened through the loss of loved ones in tragedies such as the murder of 35 people at Port Arthur...
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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...
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Kevin Rudd – 2013
In this election, we are now engaged in the fight of our lives. It is a fight about the values which underpin Australia’s future. A fight about our vision for Australia’s future. And it is a fight about how we go about building our nation’s future – a future for the many, not just the few. And for those who say the fight is up, I say they haven’t seen anything yet. Because we have something worth fighting for. And that’s the jobs of all Australians. The pay packets of all Australians. And an...
  • climate change
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  • immigration
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Tony Abbott – 2013
I am so proud of my girls…I am proud of my family that has given me so much…I am so proud of my team, and I am so proud of our country. Again, I want to speak directly to you, the Australian people. This election is about making a great country even better; and that starts with changing the worst government in our history. I will spend the next two weeks reassuring people that there is a better way, while Mr Rudd will spend the next two weeks trying to scare you about what might happen if he...
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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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