Australian federal elections are usually marked by some memorable slogans or attacks. It’s time and Kevin07 worked for Labor in 1972 and 2007 respectively, while the Liberal-National Coalition have historically had much success with attacks on Labor, including the talk of death taxes in 2019. This election we saw few memorable slogans emerge; Labor ran with A better future, the Coalition with Strong Economy. Stronger. Future. There were unusual variants of the latter, with Scott Morrison tweeting a picture of his regular weekend cooking of curries (complete with a seemingly undercooked chicken curry) tagged with the words Strong Curry, Strong Economy, Stronger Future.

Having a curry for the country aside, this election has thrown up some interesting words and expressions. Albanese alerted us to the expression junior burger for a low-ranking official, used in reference to Senator Zed Seselja when he was sent to the Solomon Islands to discuss the country’s deal with China. Defence issues cropped up a few times, with talk just before the election campaign began of Manchurian candidates. While this election did not really qualify as a khaki election, the language of borders and defence was frequently invoked. The Coalition’s campaign focused on projecting the idea of national strength. Peter Dutton used Anzac Day as an opportunity to discuss the necessity of preparing for war.

The image of the two leaders was much discussed throughout the campaign. Anthony Albanese’s makeover or glow-up was remarked on (an image of Albanese as a young man frequently does the rounds on social media tagged as ‘Hot Albo’). While there is, to my knowledge, no ‘hot ScoMo’ equivalent, Morrison has consistently projected his daggy dad image, usually with curries or cubby houses, and more recently with a ukulele. Towards the end of the campaign, Morrison began accusing Albanese of being a loose unit (an Australianism that can be taken as a compliment, referring as it does to someone who is fun to be around, not just someone who is unreliable). However, ‘loose unit Albo’ was quickly placed in opposition to ‘bulldozer ScoMo’ when Morrison described himself as such.

ANU political scientist Blair Williams has argued that these two politicians project two types of Australian political masculinity: Albanese is a state daddy whose focus and language is on care, while the more patriarchal Morrison aims to communicate both relatable dagginess and blokiness, as well as protectiveness. The term daddy, Williams explains, began within LGBTQI+ communities but has now become mainstream, being used to describe an older, attractive male with nurturing and caring qualities.

Minor parties and independent candidates who are likely to give the major parties a run for their money often generate much media attention. In this election campaign much of this attention went to the teal independents, many of whom are women. While initially these candidates were talked about as the voices of candidates, because they all aimed to be the ‘voice of’ their particular electorates, the use of the teal colour to mark them out on the campaign trail has come to be the more common descriptor for them. The independence of these candidates has been much debated, with the Coalition in particular – whose candidates were under most threat – running attacks. Most prominently, they have been labelled as fake independents. The challenge to Josh Frydenberg in the Victorian seat of Kooyong probably received the most coverage in the media. It generated the hashtag (usually used ironically) #JoshKeeper, an allusion to the pandemic-related government program JobKeeper that Frydenberg, as treasurer, oversaw.

The minor parties were less visible in election coverage, but the United Australia Party, led by ex-Liberal Craig Kelly and funded by Clive Palmer, focused on the idea of freedom, with that word featuring prominently in their campaign material and in candidates’ statements. This tied in with the agenda and rhetoric of the anti-vaxxer movement. They also capitalised on the mistrust of the major parties. Pauline Hanson’s One Nation even extended this mistrust of institutions to the Australian Electoral Commission, with their talk of voter fraud. Much of this language – as with the anti-vaxxer movement – is borrowed from or shared with the United States.

Our political system remains strong. Despite some voters’ disillusionment with politics at the moment, many people showed up to vote in person despite the ongoing pandemic, if only to enjoy the democracy sausages. Will there be any language from this election that will live on or make its way into the dictionary? It may be too early to tell. Nothing stands out as being anything but ephemeral. Given the sometimes shallow nature of political discussion, despite the real challenges of climate change, housing affordability, and structural inequality, this is just as well. But even the ephemeral language of the campaign trail tells us something about our current preoccupations.