The shadow treasurer’s budget reply was a masterclass in high-frequency demographic targeting, and frankly, I resent the bleeding hearts ruining the acoustics.
When Angus Taylor stepped up to deliver his budget reply this week, I poured myself a generous glass of 2018 Shiraz, settled into my leather armchair, and tuned my ears to the upper registers. I expected to be pandered to. I am, after all, an established property owner and a prominent newspaper columnist. It is the shadow treasurer’s job to identify my basest, most uncharitable instincts and quietly validate them on national television.
To my delight, Taylor delivered an absolute symphony. By casually suggesting that migrants are flooding into Australia to claim benefits before becoming citizens—a demographic threat that I had not previously considered but now firmly believe is the source of all my mild, everyday inconveniences—he hit a note so pure, so perfectly pitched, that the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
Yet, almost immediately, the usual chorus of migrant advocates rushed to the microphones to accuse Taylor of chasing votes with dog whistles. As if this were a bad thing. As if the entire point of a budget reply isn't to transmit a high-frequency signal that bypasses the cerebral cortex and resonates directly in the amygdala of the suburban swing voter.
I find their outrage deeply offensive to my sensibilities. A dog whistle is a sign of respect. It means the politician recognizes that you are a civilized person who prefers their nativism politely coded in the language of fiscal responsibility. If Taylor had wanted to be crude, he would have used a megaphone. By choosing the dog whistle, he allowed me to maintain my self-image as a rational economic actor while still enjoying the warm, comforting glow of blaming my tax bracket on foreigners.
You have to admire the acoustic mastery he demonstrated when discussing welfare wait times. The rhetoric was completely inaudible to the inner-city left, but out in the suburbs, every golden retriever and middle manager immediately sat up and started growling.
Frankly, the migrant advocates are ruining the ambience. It is incredibly jarring to be sitting in one’s study, quietly enjoying a tailored piece of demographic manipulation, only to have someone rudely point out exactly what is happening. We are a sophisticated nation. If we can send Delta Goodrem to the Eurovision final to proudly represent our cultural heritage on the world stage, surely we can allow Angus Taylor to perform his own vocal gymnastics here at home in peace.