Popular Chinese social media platform WeChat is gaining traction in the forthcoming Australian federal election. Political analysts noted that the network can play a major role during the campaign period.
Senior Lecturer in Media at Curtin University of Technology, Wanning Sun, wrote on SBS Australia that the use of WeChat during campaign period is a "smart strategy" for federal candidates. This is due to the fact that around 597,000 Australian residents speak Mandarin.
Of the reported 1.2 million people living in Australia who have Chinese ancestry, an estimated 510,000 are voters. The popular social media platform could either make or break politicians, Sun pointed out.
One of the most recent issues that took WeChat by fire in New South Wales Labor leader, Michael Daley's blunder that said "young Asians with PhDs" are taking jobs from native Australians. His comments became a trending topic on the network with many users expressing disappointment over Daley's alleged "racism."
Previously, Australian politicians focused on Facebook and Twitter to engage with voters. However, Tencent-developed WeChat is gradually taking over the campaign period with a number of high-ranking officials and candidates opening their accounts as the federal election nears.
Among the politicians who have taken to WeChat to communicate with Mandarin voters is Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who opened his official account in February. Another popular user is Kevin Rudd, who joined the network almost six years ago.
In the Labor party, Chris Bowen is the first to have opened his account in October 2017 and has been using the Live feature to interact with the massive Chinese community in Australia. There's also opposition leader Bill Shorten, who held his first WeChat Live session on Wednesday.
Shorten has been opened his account on May 2017 but this is the first time he used the Live feature. According to Radio New Zealand, Shorten used the opportunity to woo Chinese voters following Daley's blunder. Through the platform, he revealed that he doesn't agree with Daley's statements that were made last year.
"Mr. Daley has now stepped down as the leader of the NSW Labor Party and he doesn't intend to become leader again," Shorten explained. He also answered around 500 other questions from Mandarin-speaking voters who wanted to know more about his stand on various current issues in the country.
Aside from countering Daley's statements, Shorten also said during his WeChat Live session that he sees China "as a strategic opportunity for Australia" in developing the economy. He added that he wants to see increased ties between the two countries.
