[LINK] New website on history of elections in Australia

[Jan Whitaker]

>New 'Soapbox' website explores our electioneering past
>
>As campaigning moves online Australian voters can 'friend' political 
>leaders on Facebook and MySpace - but in 1901 Edmund Barton and 
>George Reid used the humble soapbox to appeal to the Australian 
>public. So has anything changed?
>
>A new website called Soapbox has been developed by the University of 
>Melbourne's Dr Sally Young, senior lecturer in Media and 
>Communications and well-known commentator on the intersection of 
>politics and the media, with assistance from researchers Stephanie 
>Younane and Mary Helen McIroy. The website was designed and 
>developed in collaboration with Educational Technology Services at 
>the University of Melbourne.
>Dr Young says: 'The Soapbox website is an online archive that means 
>anyone can access election materials from 1901 to now - including 
>photographs, texts of speeches, transcripts of debates and political 
>ads - and see for themselves the growth and development of 
>Australian politics'.
>
>Soapbox is a unique Australian political archive, bringing together 
>key historical documents and audio-visual material, and making them 
>available to students, researchers, journalists and the general public.
>
>While election campaigns focus on the short-term - the hectic 3 to 6 
>weeks of shaking hands, slinging mud and kissing babies - Soapbox 
>allows electors to see elections as a continuum; to look back over 
>time to see what the parties and their leaders have said (and 
>promised) in the past.
>
>'In the lead up to the 2007 election there is no better time to take 
>a trip through the history of Australian federal election campaigns.
>
>'Regardless of how you vote in this election, see for yourself 
>whether John Howard and Kevin Rudd employ the same tactics as their 
>predecessors and check how the promises and rhetoric of the major 
>parties have changed from their last campaign to now', says Dr Young.
>
>Soapbox is at: <http://soapbox.unimelb.edu.au/>

Jan Whitaker
JLWhitaker Associates, Melbourne Victoria
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
personal: http://www.janwhitaker.com/personal/
commentary: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/

Living, like writing, requires no wisdom. Only revising does. - Jim 
Sollisch, Sept, 2007
'Seed planting is often the most important step. Without the seed, 
there is no plant.' - JW, April 2005
_ __________________ _