Michelle Grattan: “View from The Hill” on the Dunkley by-election
A breakdown of the language techniques and tone only, not the politics. This column is published under an open licence; the analysis still keeps quotation brief. Read it in full at the source.
The Conversation
Canberra3 March 2024
View from The Hill
Does Dunkley tell Peter Dutton he should give more attention to the former Liberal heartland?
Where this is from
- Author
- Michelle Grattan, chief political correspondent, The Conversation (and a Professorial Fellow at the University of Canberra)
- Publication
- The Conversation, “View from The Hill” column
- Date
- 3 March 2024, around the Dunkley by-election
- Form
- Regular political-analysis column
- Read it
- theconversation.com — full column →
The Conversation publishes under a Creative Commons Attribution–NoDerivatives licence. This page is original analysis and quotes only short phrases; read the full column at the link.
From device to effect
Technique
Question headline
In the column
“Does Dunkley tell Dutton…?”
Effect on reader
frames the piece as inquiry, not verdict
Technique
Insider shorthand
In the column
a list of seat names, unexplained
Effect on reader
builds authority; flatters the reader
Technique
Hedged prediction
In the column
“the risk for Dutton is…”
Effect on reader
reads as probability, not preference
Key tones and their effect on the reader
Measured → the reader
The calm, hedged style asks the reader to treat the column as reliable analysis rather than persuasion.
Dispassionate → the reader
Keeping the writer's own view hidden lets readers of any politics accept the assessment.
Dry → the reader
The lack of flourish signals that the substance, not the writing, is the point.
Form and register in one line
The political-analysis column sits between reporting and opinion. Grattan's register is dry, precise and cautious: she reads a result for what it might mean, hedges her predictions, and keeps her own preferences almost invisible.
Language techniques
-
Rhetorical question as headline
The headline asks whether the result should change the opposition leader's focus.
Effect: posing the piece as a question, rather than an assertion, frames the column as an inquiry and invites the reader to weigh the evidence alongside the writer.
-
The insider register
Seats are named as a set (
Curtin, Higgins, Mackellar, Warringah…
); the reader is assumed to know the players.Effect: the shorthand builds authority and a sense of access; it also flatters the reader as someone who follows politics closely.
-
Hedged prediction
Claims are wrapped in qualifiers:
on this reading
,the risk for Dutton is…
,it is too early to…
Effect: the hedging protects the analyst if events move differently, and signals that she is describing probabilities, not barracking for an outcome.
-
Balanced assessment
Each side's position is stated in turn before any verdict.
Effect: presenting both cases first makes the eventual judgement look earned, and keeps the column readable across the political divide.
-
Understated verdicts
Conclusions are delivered flatly, without adjectives or exclamation.
Effect: the plainness is a claim to objectivity; a calm sentence reads as a finding rather than a hot take.
-
Present-tense framing
The by-election is read as a live signal about what the major parties should do now.
Effect: the present tense makes the analysis feel useful and immediate, a guide to a situation still unfolding.
Practice angle
This column reads a single by-election for what it might mean for both major parties. Write a paragraph on how a writer uses hedging language to make predictions while protecting their authority if those predictions do not hold.
Write a response to this column
Draft an analysing-argument response using the techniques above, then send it for marking against the VCAA criteria, with detailed feedback in 72 hours.
See essay marking