The quiet Australians

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Scott Morrison

Member for Cook (2007–2024)

Prime Minister of Australia
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"The quiet Australians" is an expression that was used by Australian politician Scott Morrison when his Liberal/National Coalition unexpectedly won the 2019 Australian federal election on 18 May 2019, meaning Morrison would continue as Prime Minister of Australia.[1][2] Describing the outcome as a miracle, Morrison stated that "the quiet Australians ... have won a great victory":[3]

This is, this is the best country in the world in which to live. It is those Australians that we have been working for, for the last five and a half years since we came to Government, under Tony Abbott's leadership back in 2013. It has been those Australians who have worked hard every day, they have their dreams, they have their aspirations; to get a job, to get an apprenticeship, to start a business, to meet someone amazing. To start a family, to buy a home, to work hard and provide the best you can for your kids. To save your retirement and to ensure that when you're in your retirement, that you can enjoy it because you've worked hard for it. These are the quiet Australians who have won a great victory tonight.

Morrison used this term prior to the election stating "Too many of us have been quiet for too long and it's time to speak up", and "To those quiet Australians who are out there, now is not the time to turn back".[4][5] After the election, he compared Quiet Australians to Robert Menzies's "forgotten people" and John Howard's "battlers".[6] In December, when congratulating Boris Johnson for winning the 2019 United Kingdom general election, Morrison asked him to "say g'day to the quiet Britons for us".[7]

The term "The Quiet Australians" has been referenced by media outlets and commentators.[2][8][9] Stan Grant wrote that "Retirees, middle-class parents, and those dependent on the mining industry for their livelihoods all felt they were in the firing line. Christian leaders now say that religious freedom was a sleeper issue that turned votes in critical marginal seats. Throughout the world, long-silent voices are making themselves heard and it is shaking up politics as usual. People are saying they want to belong and they want their leaders to put them first".[10] The Guardian compared Morrison's Quiet Australians to Richard Nixon's "silent majority."[11]

Media outlets have been investigating who the Quiet Australians might be. The Australian referred to voters who ignored messaging that "presumed to tell them how to think and what to do" and voted for a Prime Minister that "spoke not over but right to them".[12] SBS News stated that "They don't make a lot of noise online or call into radio stations, they don't campaign in the streets or protest outside parliament".[13]

The Australian Financial Review used data from the Australian Election Study to define Quiet Australians as being "increasingly disaffected with the political system, and that Education surpassed income as the demographic characteristic most correlated with a swing to either major party". Moreover, the "election also saw the re-emergence of religion as a political force".[14] ABC's Q&A's panelists discussed the 2019 election results in an episode titled "First Australians and Quiet Australians".[15]

The Order of Australia Association uses the term "Quiet Australians" for its collection of stories embodied within the service rendered by award recipients to serve as a national resource to inspire and educate Australians.[16]

  1. ^ "Tally Room". Australian Electoral Commission.
  2. ^ a b Murphy, Katharine; Martin, Sarah (18 May 2019). "Scott Morrison credits 'quiet Australians' for 'miracle' election victory". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Speech Sydney". Prime Minister of Australia. 18 May 2019. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  4. ^ Rennie, Susan (15 January 2019). "We are not anti-Australia Day, just not on January 26". The Age.
  5. ^ Livingston, Angus (9 May 2019). "Morrison bids for quiet australians". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  6. ^ Bramston, Troy (8 October 2019). "Rise of the quiet achiever". The Weekend Australian. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  7. ^ "'Say g'day to the quiet Britons': Scott Morrison congratulates Boris Johnson on win". SBS News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  8. ^ "ScoMo's quiet Australians reject Labor's big government dogma". Australian Financial Review. 20 May 2019. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  9. ^ Jones, Anna (18 May 2019). "2019 Australian election: As it happened". BBC News. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  10. ^ Grant, Stan (21 May 2019). "Scott Morrison Won Australia's Election Against All Odds. It Shouldn't Have Come as a Surprise". Foreign Policy.
  11. ^ Nunn, Gary (30 July 2019). "How good are quiet Australians! ScoMo's language legacy". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  12. ^ Overington, Caroline (22 May 2019). "Quiet Australians heard loud and clear in Coalition election win". The Australian. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  13. ^ "Morrison bids for 'quiet Australian' vote". SBS News. 9 May 2019. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  14. ^ Seo, Bo (24 May 2019). "'Quiet Australians' are disaffected and divided". The Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  15. ^ "First Australians and Quiet Australians". ABC. 27 May 2019.
  16. ^ "About Us". The Order of Australia Association. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2019.