Political and Government Communication
The purpose of this study is to explore the differences and similarities between political and government communication. To present a detailed discussion, the paper will be based on an issue regarding communication, especially the context of indigenous people who entrust community and advocacy groups to voice their needs to the public as well the government. As communication can display the interest of a person, this paper will consider looking at the aspect of advocates that were representing the Aboriginal community as the key stakeholders who instituted campaign for political change, demand for the right of land, and recognition of the Aboriginal people. Taking the case of Aboriginal Tent Embassy, this analysis will also focus on examining the stakeholders who were involved in the campaign for equal rights, and reflect on their role to differentiate political and government communication in Australia. Finally, after reviewing the communication model that was used by the Tent Embassy advocates, the paper will suggest if the campaign was effective in order to achieve the desired objectives.
Today, communication has become an integral component in every sector, including in the field of activists, where social movements use different communication processes to influence the public and political opinion or policy direction. As community and advocacy groups cannot be separated from interest groups like political parties, it is important for the associates to use the most efficient model of communication, in particular when campaigning for a change in the treatment of a specific group in the society (McHale, 2004). Consequently, this helps the advocates differentiate between political and government communication. According to Canel and Sanders (2013), in the UK and Australia, government communication has a structure set to reflect the view of the government work at the nation, local, and regional levels. From this context, it is noted that both political and government communication can be one thing, but in a broader context, the two have many differences.
Background Issue
Overview of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy
As this paper is based on the communication campaign, in this section, the overview of the facts about the Aboriginal Tent Embassy is presented. The encampment of Tent Embassy was established on 26 January 1972, and it has continued to be in existence even today (Cowan, 2001). Throughout the history of Indigenous people in Australia, the Tent Embassy has stood in protest, with campaigns conducted by the advocates who initiated Tent focusing on making sure that every person in the community is treated equally, respectful, and can access public facilities without any difficulties (Cowan, 2001). As the media plays a major role in the community, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy has attracted widespread media attention, and this has helped the stakeholders who have been involved in the campaign to alert the community in Australia the plight of Aboriginal people. Foley, Schaap, and Howell (2013) point out that in 1972, the action of the Embassy exceeded the hope of the citizens, which allowed the movement to get heed from unprecedented international media. The more the Aboriginal Tent Embassy campaign was getting media attention, the greater it was being supported by indigenous people in Australia. In addition, the spread of the movement to the media influenced non-indigenous people, especially students in the Australian Universities. Foley, Schaap, and Howell (2013) reveal that non-indigenous students created associations such as the Freedom Ride, which helped Aboriginal people protest about the violation of their rights in the society. Many non-indigenous university students joined the campaigns such as the Charlie Perkins protest on the bus and the Gurindii walk-off protest that was held at the Wave Hill.
Statistics
As the area where the Tent Embassy started has attracted political interest, many people opted to move out and search for equality and justice in the country. According to the report prepared by Teece-Johnson (2016), in 1968, at about 35,000 Aboriginal people were living in the Redfern area, but by 2011, the number had dropped to 300. The report has been compiled according to the Australian Bureau of Standards, and it clearly shows that many Indigenous people in Australia continue to feel that they are not treated equally. As the Aboriginal House Company is focusing on making the lives of the Indigenous group living at Redfern comfortable and standard, the association is focusing on building flats for students and 62 homes that are not expensive for the people in the area. The AHC need $30 million from the government to make the project of building standard houses viable under any circumstance (Georgatos 2014). As the houses of the Redfern Aboriginal people are less than 300, the project is meant to increase the number of the individuals in the area, which will promote the recognition of the Aboriginal people from Redfern community in the political and national level in the Australia.
The Campaign and Communication Context
The struggle of activists in Redfern is a powerful example of a communication campaign that the community can use to influence political leaders and the perspective of other people who do not belong to their race. The campaign can be used to signify different forms of communication, including both political and government communication. Morris (2014) note that election campaign stress on the need of power, intervention, regulation, and control of the public. Thus, basing it on this argument, the Tent Embassy campaign can be viewed as a government communication, as its rationale was to influence key political figures to set and maintain a healthy relationship with the public. However, based on the framework of the activists who participated in the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, the campaign can also be categorized under the aspect of political power. Lothian (2007) asserts that although the activists of Aboriginal Embassy were representing the demand of indigenous population, they had an interest in Black Power. The situation of Black Power in Australia has manifested itself in several ways between later the 1960s and early 1970s. Lothian (200) alludes that the demand for Black Power become dominant in the community when activists campaigning for the rights of land started reclaiming for the identification of the leadership of the Aboriginal people, eradication of poverty through leadership, and fight against racism in the regional and national sphere. From this context, it can be said that the campaign introduced by the Aboriginal activists had the feature of both political and government communication.
The Campaign Stakeholders
A number of activists founded the Aboriginal Tent Embassy with the aim of protesting against a displaced nation. In 1972, the Indigenous advocates who were selected by the Aboriginal people to represent them included Bertie Williams, Tony Koorie, Billy Craigie, and Michael Anderson. The four advocates were protesting against the statement that was passed by the Liberal government concerning the right of land (Reconciliation Australia, 2017). The campaign of the four activists also focused on addressing the issue of the ownership of existing reserve for the Aboriginal people, $6 million compensation, and the right for the Indigenous people to own the Northern Territory. Moreover, Georgatos (2014) proclaims that Jenny Munro was also part of the Tent Embassy founders and an activist who has a direct influence on the campaign by being a fully participating member in the fight for equal right for the Aboriginal people. In 1992, the Tent Embassy became a focal point for protest in Australia and rallies on the Parliament area. In this period, the activists who participated included people such Rose Kirby, who got married in the same area in 1997. In 1998, the campaign movement became even stronger, with Arabunna Elder Kevin Buzzacott and Wiradjuri man Paul Coe leading a peaceful protest that was aimed at making the people feel inspired and heal any suffering that was subjected to them in terms of inequality (Reconciliation Australia, 2017). From the overview of the campaign of the Indigenous Tent Embassy and the people who were involved from the moment it started, it is evident that the campaign had a communication characteristic in it; the stakeholders were passing a particular message to the government and political officials through their protests.
Background to the Campaign
According to Atkin and Rice (2013), public communication campaigns incorporate strategies and tactics that will produce factors that influence the attitude of the politicians and the community as a whole. In every aspect of a communication campaign, the individuals communicating should consider the purpose of the communication process and the strategy to use so that they can encourage the audience to change their behaviors and perspective toward the issue involved in the communication plan. Atkin and Rice (2013) opine that communication campaigns are meant to inform the public about a specific problem, and the communicator can use different platforms of communication, among them the media, to promote the matter and influence political stakeholders as the targeted audiences.
Communication Strategy
Looking at the case of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, the activists who were carrying out the communication campaign went through a hard time before gaining an opportunity to speak publically. To place their issue on the political agenda, the activist stakeholders set a Tent Embassy outside the Australian parliament; through this strategy, they simultaneously communicated their central demand by putting up signs and images, which would read Aboriginal Embassy (Carter 2005). The group also used banners that were written in bold and clear words to pass their message to the political and government officials. This made the campaign get stronger and broader within the society. The strategy was working for the Aboriginal stakeholders, as within a few months, supporters of the campaign reached to 2000, and when the campaign was aired on the national television, the public expressed its concern to the federal government (National Museum Australia, 2017). This means that the Indigenous protesters who participated in the campaigns established in the Tent Embassy used more direct communication strategy that was justifiable, as it attracted the public interest and the Australian government as the major audience for the message that the activists were delivering.
Discussion and Analysis
The objective of the Aboriginal activists was to use the Aboriginal Tent Embassy as a powerful symbol to protest against the government treatment, mostly on the context of land ownership. As the Aboriginal activists continued to protest against the law of the land imposed to regulate the Indigenous community from being landowners, the support of the Embassy began to increase. The media coverage was also another significant component that would assist the activists to achieve their objective. Robinson (1994) suggests that as the issue of the Aboriginal community attracted the interest of the international community, international media coverage included the reports that were published by the London Times about the Embassy, the Guardian Newspaper, and the New York Times. These media houses were relevant to the spreading of the issue of Aboriginal people, as through the coverage many people became aware of the matter and in turn, supported the advocates who were fighting on behalf of the Indigenous community. In Australia, the media coverage of the incidents that were happening at the Tent Embassy included the reports that were published on a local television film showing the police dismantling the Tent (National Museum Australia, 2017). This was significant as the public were given an opportunity to watch the entire coverage, which made them support the victims in their fight for equal privileges. Robinson (1994) quotes that the most talented group that supported the Aboriginal activists were students associations such as the Australian National University (ANU), where the Student Representative Council engaged with the activists through meetings. At the same time, more students were becoming politicized through the matter, which made them active members supporting the Aboriginal movement and the protest with the quest of being given their demands.
In response to the protest, the Australian government was forced to change its policy on land, mostly in the land that was owned by the Aboriginal community. In 1972, the lawns of the Old Parliament were detached several times by the Liberal Government with the help of the police officers to allow the parliament to negotiate with the Aboriginal Tent Embassy and plan on the best ways that could be applied to ensure that the Aboriginals got their rights to own these lands. In 1995, through the government effort, the Embassy was registered under the Australian Heritage Commission’s National Estate, which made it become one of the recognized places acquired through the political struggle of the Indigenous people in the Australia (Reconciliation Australia, 2017). In addition, the key changes in the Australian government policy that were produced by the Embassy included granting the Aboriginal peoples land rights and ensuring that the policy of the Indigenous people in Australia was no longer a component of bipartisan policy of assimilation (Foley, Schaap, & Howell, 2013). The dramatic government changes in the ALP policy meant that the Australian government had dispensed its power to end the suffrage of the Indigenous people in the community, and the end of the assimilation era, where the Aboriginal community would own and acquire lands under their name (Foley, Schaap, & Howell, 2013). Finally, the change of the land policy in favor for the Aboriginal people showed that the government listened to their demands. The National Museum Australia (2017) highlights that after the government listened to the Aboriginal people during the protest era, twenty-six members of the Australian Parliament said that they did not support any individual or government officials moving against the Aboriginal Embassy.
Similarities and Differences of Communication Based on the Case of Tent Embassy
Similarities
From the communication technique that the Aboriginal Tent Embassy people used to deliver their message, one can note a similarity between political and government communication. From the context of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy campaign the political class and the government focused on the development of democracy, which encouraged equality regardless of the background and race of people. In reference to this point, Esser and Pfetsch (2004) argue that for political and government communication to be consistent, the quality of democracy must be taken into consideration. The adaptation of democratic norms through communication helps those communicating a particular message become consolidated within the political system. On the other hand, the aspect of the public nature in the Aboriginal Tent Embassy makes the campaign appear to be both political and government communication. In support of this point, Canel and Sanders (2012) outline that in every context of government and political communication, there should be the principle of publicness, whereby the public controls and sanctions their interest according to the freedom of expression that has been set by the constitution.
Differences
However, the Tent Embassy communication campaign demonstrate that political and government campaign are two different concepts, and each has a specific influence on those receiving the message disseminated by the communicator. The campaign was oriented more toward the needs of the people together with the opinion of the Aboriginal people toward the government of Australia. Mazzoleni et al. (2015) express that government communication happens when people want to communicate with the government about its opinion toward the management of political purposes. In the Aboriginal Tent Embassy situation, the primary focus was to communicate with the government and influence the leaders in the government to consider the grievances of the Indigenous community within the political management activity. On the contrary, based on the Aboriginal Tent Embassy issue, political communication takes place when the public wants the political community to be free and equal for all members of the society. Here, it can be viewed that political communication focuses on liberal democracy, where the activist campaigning for equal rights wants their members to be included in the political sphere equally so that the community can receive an equal amount of resources just like other people from different races within the society. Habermas (2006) makes this point clear by saying that according to the normative theory of democracy, through the equal communication system, people can share their messages with political people, especially when they want equal treatment at the community level.
Conclusion
This paper presents the concept of political and government communication based on the campaign that was instituted by the Aboriginal people in the Australia. From the study, it is apparent that communication within the political and government system is a crucial factor that can determine the welfare of the public through the response that the people in power will give when confronted with an issue concerning equality. Considering the effort that was instilled by the Tent Embassy activists, the Embassy and stakeholders exemplified the efficacy of campaign communication within the framework of Australian democracy system. Additionally, basing it on the literature used in this study, the Embassy and the campaign were a success in many ways, as the Australian government came to consider their grievances of the Aboriginals and supported a land policy that would make the community equal under the law. Clearly, the communication process through the campaign was effective, as the activists influenced the government to fulfill the demands of the Aboriginal people and to ensure that the public supported the protests that the activists were presenting to the government.
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