The 1931 Australian Federal Election Radio Makes History

The effervescent Listener In weekly radio magazine declared after the first week of the 1931 federal election that Australia was making history. Ardent readers of radio news were told that nowhere, anywhere, had a political leader opened his election campaign with a radio address to the nation. Listener In's enthusiasm was contagious and resilient 79 years later, there is still a hardy view that the use of radio was the distinguishing feature of the 1931 campaign. The reality is somewhat more complicated than that simple observation. It is, however, true to say that the increasing popularity of radio elevated its importance as a potential tool for political leaders at that time. And as such, it is also true that the 1931 campaign was a critical juncture in changing the way politicians used the media.