What’s this hypothetical bypass and why does it matter?

Interpreting mistruth in an image: Angus Taylor’s Picton bypass election promise, Part 2

Digital artefact, BCM110

Photo Credit: TTSTUDIO/SHUTTERSTOCK

“The NSW Government is planning a proposed future bypass of Picton town centre,” reads the NSW government page dedicated to the bypass… but hang on, that’s a state government website, what does that have to do with federal politics which concern Angus Taylor? And if the state government claims that the Picton Bypass has already been proposed and is being planned - the state government page was last updated in August 2021 - why did Angus Taylor just hang his posters all around town claiming that he was delivering the Picton bypass? I was awfully confused by all of this as I began to research the Picton bypass in order to seek out the legitimacy of Angus Taylor’s campaign media.

Whilst pitching this digital artefact assignment I came across many sources which highlighted Australian federal politicians' complicated historical relationship with the truth. Selling the Australian Government : Politics and Propaganda from Whitlam to Howard by Greg Barnes, proved to be an interesting read in the library, and demonstrated that many political figures will use propaganda to win votes during elections; I realised that Angus Taylor’s campaign posters were doing exactly that. Barnes’ book recounted the scandal ridden government which were in power during the Whitlam era in Australia, in particular his dismissal as Prime Minister after his political donations to Iraq. The book mentioned that the Whitlam government actually had posters spread across the country which tried to avert attention from the scandal and instead point at the leader of the opposition’s scandals of the time. This proves that media images such as posters have always been used as a ploy in politics and it is interesting to see how the audience, Australian citizens, respond.

You see, the Picton Bypass is an easy concept for the Liberal party to weaponise, it is an extremely sensitive topic in the Wollondilly area and surroundings. In the most recent devastating bushfires which occurred across the summer of 2019 and 2020, several lives were lost in the area, and there was an enormous sense of dread and panic as the traffic jams built up during evacuation notices.

A 15-kilometre traffic jam occurs due to evacuations in Picton and Tahmoor, NSW

On one of the worst days of that bushfire season, December 19th 2019, trips within the Wollondilly which usually took 15 minutes were now taking an hour. There were intense traffic jams as thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate. Some cars which were full of families, pets and essential items ran out of petrol on the main roads as flames were creeping near. It was a terrifying day, I remember where I was and the panicked phone calls between my family members still ring in my mind. Had a Picton Bypass been existent on this day, it would have alleviated the town’s traffic as people would not need to go through the main street of Picton to get onto highways and other main roads. For Angus Taylor to promise a Picton Bypass on a simple poster hung all throughout the town, he has pretty much won himself the election, as all who suffered the trauma of that traffic jam would likely be considering this vital. So why then, do I feel this is a dishonest, unseemingly ploy from the Liberal party?

A house burns during bushfire in Wollondilly, 2020

Photo credit: Southern Highland News

(Continues in the third and final part)

REFERENCES:

Kontominas, B. (2020.) Wollondilly Shire Council calls for better bushfire evacuation planning after gridlock during emergency. ABC News. Available: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-08/wollondilly-council-calls-for-better-bushfire-evacuation-plan/12224610

NSW Government, 2021, Picton bypass https://roads-waterways.transport.nsw.gov.au/projects/picton-bypass/index.html

Filkov A, Ngo T, Matthews S, Telfer S, Penman T (2020) ‘Impact of Australia's catastrophic 2019/20 bushfire season on communities and environment. Retrospective analysis and current trends’, Volume 1, Issue 1, Journal of Safety Science and Resilience. Available: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666449620300098

Barns, Greg. (2005) ‘Selling the Australian Government : Politics and Propaganda from Whitlam to Howard. UNSW Press. Available: https://uow.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/61UOW_INST/ihdge1/alma99100191615970666 6