By this point in the election campaign cycle, the voices of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese are sounding more like an incessant droning than actually formed sentences. Thankfully someone has been paying much closer attention to everything the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader have gabbed on about in the last month and crunched the numbers on who’s said what. Heads up, “mate” has been uttered a lot.
Author and columnist Dr Kirstin Ferguson kept tabs on the two party leaders from April 11 to May 11. She analysed everything the two men have said and done on the campaign trail — from how many times they’ve addressed the public to the top five words they’ve said the most — to get an idea of what Morrison and Albanese are actually talking about.
Without putting too fine a point on it, it’s pretty bloody interesting.
Words matter.
I have analysed the frequency of words spoken by PM and OL over the past month (11 Apr – 11 May) from transcripts of speeches/remarks, pressers, doorstops & interviews. These are all available on each leaders’ respective campaign website.#ausvotes #auspol
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— Kirstin Ferguson (@kirstinferguson) May 11, 2022
In her research, she found that Morrison had spoken a whopping 190,000 words, while Albanese had said just under 100,000 — which is impressive considering he had a week off in COVID isolation there.
Albanese had also spoken at around 88% of the number of public events as Morrison, who clocked in 70 total events across the month.
PM’s words come from 70 events (6 addresses and remarks, 33 interviews, 31 doorstops & pressers).
OL words come from 62 events (4 addresses, 31 interviews, 27 doorstops & pressers)
Even with iso, OL has spoken at 88% of the number of events of the PM.#ausvotes #auspol
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— Dr Kirstin Ferguson (@kirstinferguson) May 11, 2022
But what’s really interesting is the things each leader spoke about over the last month.
Albanese said Morrison’s name a total of 302 times (which is about 0.39% of his total words spoken) while Morrison said his opponent’s name 289 times.
Childcare is not a word used consistently by both leaders
OL has said “childcare” 113 times (0.28% total words)
PM has said “childcare” 4 times (0.01% total words)#auspol #ausvotes #womenvote/6
— Dr Kirstin Ferguson (@kirstinferguson) May 11, 2022
When it comes to medicare — something that has been vital for Australians over the pandemic — the numbers really don’t lie. Albanese has used the healthcare term 95 times, while Morrison only said it 69 times.
Medicare is a word used by one leader much more than the other
OL has said “Medicare” 95 times (0.37%)
PM has said “Medicare” 69 times (0.03%)#auspol #ausvotes/7
— Dr Kirstin Ferguson (@kirstinferguson) May 11, 2022
They’ve both talked about the economy a lot (but one way more than the other). According to Dr Ferguson’s numbers, Albanese said it 108 times, while Morrison uttered the word a fkn huge 681 times. Almost unsurprisingly, Morrison also said “defence” nearly 20 times more than Albanese (235 times to his 24 times).
The words strong and weak feature more in one leaders words than the other
PM has said “strong” or “strongly” 479 times (0.20%)
OL has said “strong” or “strongly” 24 times (0.03%)PM has said “weak” 17 times (0.01%)
OL has not said weak #ausvotes #auspol/10
— Dr Kirstin Ferguson (@kirstinferguson) May 11, 2022
Despite sexual harassment, gendered violence and women’s safety being such a massive talking point over the last few years — especially in politics and Federal Parliament — Dr Ferguson’s research showed neither of them have said the words “consent” or “violence against women” in the last month.
Albanese has said “women’s safety” and “gender equality” once each, while Morrison has clearly kept tight-lipped on the topic. Wonder why.
But don’t worry, they’ve both had enough of their fair share of calling people “mate”.
Thanks, mate!
PM has said “mate” 17 times (0.07%)
OL has said “mate” 14 times (0.05%)#ausvotes #auspol/15
— Dr Kirstin Ferguson (@kirstinferguson) May 11, 2022
One more week.
