Feeding the chooks may seem like a modest farm chore; however, in Australian politics, it assumes an entirely different hue and colour. Since its invention in Queensland to today in the spin rooms of the media, this term has taken on a new meaning as an exclusive label in the manner politicians treat the press. It is a part of the country’s political vocabulary and is representative of the rural traditions and media-saturated culture of Australia, as well as its doubtful perception of the performance of politics.
The Origins: Chickens, Country Life, and Joh Bjelke-Petersen
The literal and the metaphorical origin of the phrase, feeding the chooks, goes back to the soil. Conventional Aussie lingo, chooks is just what you would call a chicken (domesticated fowls) in any homestead in the countryside. It is an act of simple feeding, which is widespread in the regions of Australia.
However, the term was brought to infamy with the premiership of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, the oddly eccentric Premier of Queensland (1968-1987). Bjelke-Petersen would frequently respond to questions concerning his departure to meet the media by saying; I am going to feed the chooks. To him, reporters were the birds of a feather–pecking hens–hunting left-overs, clatter and circus.
This farm analogy soon became a political and media shorthand to mean to give a press conference or put out political spin. It was not derogatory by any means; it became a staple of Australian political commentary, and the barnyard has always been associated with the press gallery.
Feeding the Media: From Spin to Strategy
Feeding the chooks is used in modern Australian politics to mean controlling the strategically beneficial side of the news. The politicians do not simply respond to the questions; they feed certain information to the journalists in a way that favours them positively.
As an example, some politicians, such as former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, were criticised by their detractors for this so-called feeding the chooks when his office furnished media briefings to those outlets that were favoured by his office. This preferential discrimination (feeding information to media vocally-friendly or compatible) was perceived to be a contemporary evolution of the Bjelke-Petersen approach to media dealing strategies.
It is one to bear in mind in the field of politics that sometimes it does not matter what is said, but how it is said.
Parliament Gets Literal: The Eggsembly
Perhaps befitting the origins, the phrase has received a more literal take in the Queensland Parliament in 2017, when hens were introduced to the land. Chicken coop was erected in proximity to Parliament House, and was humorous nicknamed as “Eggsembly.”
The project was powered by environmental and pedagogical values, yet it also turned into the kind of innuendo referring to the history of the political culture of the state. According to Parliamentary Speaker Curtis Pitt and independent MP Peter Wellington, they were not only feeding the chooks per se, but also providing the journalists with fresh material on which to write as political life was going on around them mere metres away.
This relocation not only bridged the gap between the past and the present in Queensland but also highlighted the weight of the word in social life.
Cultural Impact: Language and Cynicism
The fact that the practice of feeding the chooks is still going on is a befitting payback to the cynical attitude in Australia towards politics. What this phrase implies is that not all briefings held by the media are geared towards transparency but towards performance, as a way of keeping journalists preoccupied and dealing with headlines.
It is a wider cultural awareness: politicians are just like farmers: there is a time when they need to shear the flock.
Even outside of politics, the term is used occasionally in Australian business and media commentary. Reporters may call a timely press release by a firm an attempt to feed the chooks before a quarterly statement or an important change of policy.
The Phrase Today: Relevance in the Digital Age
The phrase has not lost its lustre in the age of social media, but currently, it is being challenged by hashtags and digital briefings. But still, the idea is not outdated.
In modern language, the words, feeding the chooks may mean:
- Selective leaks to the press
- Tightly managed media appearances
- Daily talking points provided to political journalists
The photo looks the same as in the contemporary place: a person with a sack of feed, throwing pieces of it to the assembled audience.
Conclusion: A Quintessential Aussie Phrase
Feeding the chooks, which transcends an old farmer’s phrase, is a very Australian way of interpreting political theatre. It bears a measure of cynicism, a pinch of back-country delight, and a strong statement of the correlation between media and politics.
Either taken literally as a coop outside Queensland parliament or figuratively in the Canberra hallways, it is a term that still rings true with the Australian journalists, politicians and voters.
With more and more of the world spinning into the world of spin, sound bites and media choreography, the simple moment in time of feeding the chooks has never been more apt.
