source : the age
For anyone involved in digital media, the Coalition and the Labor Party appeared to be running two different election campaigns. Although the Liberal Party was aware that the biggest voting bloc in this election were Gen Z and Millennials, they didn’t know how to reach them. Labor MPs weren’t all digital natives, but they understood the tone, pace and purpose of the medium. They posted a lot, and what they posted resonated.
For instance, Peter Dutton only joined TikTok in September 2024. That’s a platform 52 per cent of Gen Z and 27 per cent of Millennials use daily.
TikTok videos by (from left) Liberals, Greens and Labor.
During the campaign, Albanese dominated social media mentions across platforms – 56.5 per cent to Dutton’s 45.3 per cent. On TikTok, he reached nearly 5 million users, four times Dutton’s reach. The Liberal Party did not have a message, messenger or medium to reach these critical groups. In fact, Dutton actively avoided youth media opportunities.
Broadcast media may now be past its use-by date for the largest slice of the electorate. Politicians need to get with the program. Sixty per cent of Gen Zs get their news from social media. Nearly half of all Australians are doing the same.
The advertising spend this campaign shows Labor knew it best: in the final month alone, parties spent $39 million on Google and Meta. Labor led with $11 million; the Liberals $7.1 million, Clive Palmer $6.7 million and the Teals $3.5 million. But money wasn’t the determiner. Engagement was.
For too long, both major parties lagged the fast-changing media habits of voters. But Labor adapted – just in time.
Social media is the opposite of broadcast media. It’s a two-way conversation; you’ll know what matters to voters if you just listen – not to a focus group, but to what people are telling you every day offline and online at scale.
Labor’s policies went straight to hip pocket issues their audience cared about – on Medicare, on student debt, with a tax cut. It’s why Albo holding up his “green and gold” Medicare card will be a lasting image of the campaign. Meanwhile, Dutton’s message to women – especially those working from home – was tone-deaf. His cost-of-living offering was hollow. When his fuel policy failed to shift momentum, he pivoted to fringe issues that didn’t matter to most Australians. It showed.
Labor, on the other hand, had meaningful, issues-based conversations with key audiences: women (women’s health, childcare), students (student debt), young people (housing), and families (Medicare and a tax cut).
In this disrupted “fast scroll” media environment, you have two seconds to get someone’s attention and so your content better be relevant to them. You have to really understand your audience – something Dutton did not.
Abbie Chatfield has 37 million likes on TikTok.
It’s also been said this was Australia’s first influencer or podcaster election, but that’s a stretch. Dutton and Albanese both did more than 35 traditional pressers in the campaign. You can count their podcast appearances on one hand. Yet 2 million Australians listen to podcasts daily. Albanese’s appearance on The Daily Aus and Abbie Chatfield’s podcast came only in February – but it was smart. Abbie has 37 million likes on TikTok.
Our political commentators need to evolve with these changing appetites from younger voters too.
As a Millennial I thought the Channel 7 leaders’ debate was so bad that it might just signal the death of major television leaders’ debates in Australia altogether. There were bangs and clashes around the studio as things fell over, mics left on while people were off camera, Hunger Games-style cinematic music played through Dutton and Albanese’s responses – a futile effort to make the thing engaging. This type of media is the antithesis of the content Gen Z’s and Millennials consume: It’s highly staged, and no one is saying what they really think.
In the US, YouTube giant Jubilee (10 million subscribers) could host a presidential debate in 2028. Their debates – progressive v conservative, vax v anti-vax, flat-earther v round-earther – get millions of views. It’s raw, real, and built for today’s audiences. Closer to home, SBS’s The Feed hosted six influencers in a 40-minute YouTube political debate. It was the most authentic political content all campaign. Shame the major parties weren’t in it.
Young Australians crave authenticity. They trust influencers the way they trust their friends. And loneliness has changed how they connect – online matters more than ever.
Labor’s digital ground game shows what’s possible. Strong social campaigns helped drive above-average swings for Labor MPs like Anika Wells and Jim Chalmers in Queensland, Dan Repacholi and Jerome Laxale in NSW, and Claire O’Neil in Victoria. Queensland newcomers Renee Coffey, Ali France, Madonna Jarrett and Corinne Mulholland successfully used social media to develop their profile and win seats off the Greens and the Liberals.
Teals like Allegra Spender and Zali Steggall used social media to defend their reputations and achieve swings towards them.
This is where the future lies: in consistent, two-way digital conversations, not last-minute ad blitzes.
MPs including Queensland Opposition Leader Steven Miles, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, NSW Labor’s Rose Jackson and Queensland Labor’s Bisma Asif already get this. They’re listening online and offline – and building policy based on what they hear.
It’s not about broadcast any more. It’s about building trust and talking like a real human. The politicians who start that conversation now, not a month out from re-election, will be the ones still standing.
Erinn Swan is a digital strategist based in Brisbane.
