Budget talk: Rhetorical constraints and contests

Ryan Walter*, John Uhr

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    8 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This article examines the budget surplus debate that occurred during the Gillard minority government (2010-13) to broaden the range of linguistic phenomena that are typically scrutinised in relation to Australian political rhetoric. The budget debate reveals the persistent efforts of both major parties to compete for control of the normative force that derives from using what Skinner calls 'evaluative-descriptive terms'. In this case, 'responsible economic government' was the legitimating principle, yet use of this term became entwined with the issue of trustworthiness. Delivering a budget surplus by 2012-13 was converted from a judgement regarding prudent macro-management into an election promise. Thus, Labor surrendered rhetorical control of a flexible legitimating principle for an immobile test of morality, to its political misfortune.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)431-444
    Number of pages14
    JournalAustralian Journal of Political Science
    Volume48
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2013

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