Politicians hold ‘telephone town halls’ to win over voters ahead of federal election

June 17th, 2013

Peter Nolan

Updated

June 17, 2013 23:45:34

Video: Watch Jason Om’s report on campaign calls
(Lateline)

The fixed-line telephone may be out of fashion these days but it has got the attention of Australia’s politicians, who are keen to connect with voters ahead of the September 14 election.

They are using a technique known as a telephone town hall, a mass phone hook-up involving thousands of people in the one call.

Voters initially receive an automated message asking whether they would like to take part and then receive a return call.

They can then put questions directly to a political leader and respond to polling through their key pad.

Maralyn Castel runs a business in Sydney’s Penrith area and is a member of the local Chamber of Commerce.

She was one of the 8,000 people in the marginal seat of Lindsay who took part in a teleconference with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and Liberal candidate Fiona Scott last month.

“My first reaction was it’s one of those marketing calls we don’t like to get, but because I’ve actually seen Tony Abbott speak at various functions I recognised the voice so I thought no, this is not one of those calls,” she told Lateline.

She listened to the teleconference for almost an hour.

“I think that the concept was interesting and new,” she said.

“I just thought it was something different and an opportunity to listen to what was being said.”

The technology is powerful. Hundreds of phone calls can be made per second, according to Tele-Town Hall, the US company that holds the patent.

Two years ago, Labor began experimenting with the system in Sydney, dialling 14,000 numbers within minutes in a surge that even attracted the attention of Telstra.

More recently, Labor Opposition leader in Western Australia, Mark McGowan, held teleconferences in four marginal state seats during this year’s state election.

If a call goes for an hour and you have an engaged voter who has given 10 minutes of their time, that’s 10 minutes more than you would have had otherwise.

“If a call goes for an hour and you have an engaged voter who has given 10 minutes of their time, that’s 10 minutes more than you would have had otherwise,” WA Labor assistant state secretary Lenda Oshalem said.

The idea is a variation on the traditional town hall meeting but with fewer challenges: no need to hire a venue, no curly questions, no protesters and importantly, no media.

It is talk back without the shock jocks.

Advocates of the system are less comfortable about acknowledging the media part, and Ms Oshalem is keen to emphasise the convenience it means to voters.

“Before, a mother would have to get home from work, look for a babysitter, make her way down to the town hall meeting, struggle with the crowds,” she said.

“This technology allows that mother to, in the comfort of her own home, pick up the phone and engage with a politician.”

The system may also have some advantages over social media, which lacks a human touch and crucially for political parties, enables them to recruit volunteers or members.

Not everyone wants to take a call from Mr Abbott or Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Some voters in Lindsay have told Lateline they were annoyed about being spammed by Mr Abbott, while other participants eventually lost interest and hung up.

But whatever your politics, the fact that thousands of people want to take part shows that some voters really do want to be heard.