UPDATE: Project Closure, December 2009
Resources and funding for the Soapbox website will come to an end in December 2009. As a result, this website will no longer be available after this time. However, those behind The Sopabox would like to hear from you -- have you been using the site, what resources have been the most useful, would you like continued access to this material in the future? Contact details are on the about us page.
UPDATE: Liberal Material Removed
The Soapbox Website was designed to showcase election campaign material across Australian political history, making material available from a range of political parties. However, all copyright material belonging to the Liberal Party of Australia - including television adverstisements - has been removed from this website, after repeated requests for copyright were not met with any response. The Soabox request to the Liberal Party can be viewed here - we received neither permission nor a response to our letters.
About the Soapbox
PROJECT ABSTRACT
Politicians and members of the public would once stand atop a soapbox in order to shout their message across to an audience. Now they use a wide range of media including TV ads, social networking websites and all manner of radio and television appearances. This website will harness a range of materials ─ including photographs, texts of speeches, transcripts of debates and political ads ─ to allow visitors to see (and assess) how Australian political actors communicate.
Election campaigns are usually focused on the short-term – the hectic 3 to 6 weeks of the formal election campaign. This website instead allows you to see elections as a continuum; to look back over time to see what the parties and their leaders have said (and promised) in the past. The website includes material dating back over a hundred years so that visitors can recall recent campaigns or compare current events with historical ones.
The Soapbox archive is a work in progress. Video, audio and other materials will be added as they become available.
This research was supported under the Australian Research Council's Discovery projects funding scheme (project number DP0663208).
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