The Empty Centre: The Hollowmen and Representations of Techno-Political Elites in Australian Public Life

Abstract

This article argues that 2008–2009 Australian Broadcasting Corporation comedy The Hollowmen reveals an ‘empty centre’ within Australian public life; a vortex formed from a circling of techno-political elites within the centre of government. The show’s humour comes from the juxtaposition of the established forms and aesthetics associated with Westminster-style responsible government and the discourses of spin and image management of the party apparatchiks. There is a lack of substance in The Hollowmen. Power is conservative, reacting rather than instigating change, a circling game for techno-political elites. In laughing at this, The Hollowmen seems to have pre-empted some of the Trump-era malaise of public institutions in Global North nations.