Online influencers might not change the way Australians vote in the looming federal election but they’ll almost certainly shape how and why political events become “news.”
In a nation where up to 40 percent of users on popular platforms like YouTube and TikTok get their news from influencers, they’re likely to play an increasing role in curating politics for new audiences. These influencers range from professionals fully engaged in politics to amateurs and their audiences of predominantly younger Australians. Their expanding audiences emphasize the increasing hybridity of Australia’s political and media systems and how influencers are shaping them.
The 2024 U.S. presidential election showed the growing importance of social media influencers in electoral politics. Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris courted various online personalities. Trump appeared alongside Kick streamer Adin Ross and YouTuber Logan Paul while Democrat campaigners invited 200 influencers to the Democratic National Convention in August. These were obvious strategies given influencers are now a regular source of news for one in five Americans and more than a third of under 30s.
Could influencers play a role in the Australian election?
Australia’s political influencer landscape is less developed than the U.S., though influencers increasingly shape how people engage with politics. Research suggests that on Facebook only 14 percent of users get their news from influencers, while on YouTube this rises to 24 percent and is as high as 41 percent on TikTok. Meanwhile, 43 percent of YouTube users under 35 rely on influencers.
These influencers broadly conform to three sometimes overlapping styles.
The Professionals
There are professional political influencers who engage full-time seriously and specifically with politics, primarily through podcasts and YouTube.
Former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson is a prominent example from the political right. Since creating a podcast and YouTube channel in 2018, he has integrated himself into an international coalition of conservative influencers. Anderson’s YouTube channel, which has more than 700,000 subscribers, features discussions with some of the most prominent conservative figures from the U.S., U.K., and Australia on topics relating to Western politics.
Avi Yemini is another, working as the Australian correspondent for the far-right Canadian network Rebel News. Yemini has more than 900,000 subscribers and produces a blend of vlogs, often covering online drama, as well as field correspondence videos that might question pro-Palestine protesters in Melbourne or World Economic Forum attendees in Davos.
Professional influencers from the political left include Labor-affiliated comedian Jordan Shanks-Markovina, aka Friendlyjordies, and the unaligned Konrad Benjamin, host of Punter’s Politics. With a combined 1.4 million YouTube subscribers, these influencers produce humorous vlogs and skits focusing on Australian politics that occasionally feature politicians.
The Politically Affiliated
The second category contains politically affiliated influencers, who are professionals with a broader field of interest, such as comedy, who also engage with politics. These figures often have larger audiences because of their broader appeal.
Ozzy Man is one of Australia’s largest influencers, with 6 million subscribers on YouTube and 12 million followers on Facebook. He primarily produces humorous commentaries on viral videos but also frequently discusses politics, including supporting the Voice to Parliament in 2023.
Opposition to the Voice to Parliament came from comedian Isaac Butterfield, who has more than 2 million YouTube subscribers and often comments on politics.
The Amateurs
Amateur influencers usually have smaller audiences. Despite often being well-versed in politics, these individuals primarily influence part-time or in informal settings. Generally, they lack access to professional broadcasting equipment and are increasingly embracing TikTok for the tools it offers amateur creators.
Jordan van den Lamb, aka purplepingers, has developed an audience of more than 200,000 on TikTok, primarily through critiquing housing policy. It allowed him to launch a campaign for a Senate seat in 2025 as a candidate for the Victorian Socialists.
Freya Leach leveraged her TikTok presence to run as a Liberal candidate in the 2023 NSW state election and has repeated that style in 2025 with viral videos.
The Impact: The Hybrid Media System
While amateur influencers continue to gain attention, many do so socially and for smaller audiences. Their impact is seen in the growing importance of influencer platforms as a whole, rather than in specific cases.
However, professional and affiliated influencers have been matching the audiences of traditional news media on YouTube, the most popular platform for news in Australia.
According to YouTube data, over the past year each video produced by these influencers (excluding Punter’s Politics) generally garnered more views than the averages of 7 News, 9 News, and ABC News combined. Still, the traditional outlets continue to generate more total views.
Despite their growing audiences, it is unlikely that Australian political influencers will replace traditional media in online spaces. Instead, they are key aspects of what researchers call the “Hybrid Media System.”
In this system, politics, old media and new media are increasingly interdependent, each informing how the others function. A recent TikTok from Peter Dutton featuring him reacting to remixed television coverage of Anthony Albanese is a good example. The Daily Mail reporting on a TikTok featuring Leach critiquing Albanese is another.
Within this system influencers primarily play a mediating role, rarely creating political news but often interpreting and directing it. Their audiences trust both their ability to decide what is newsworthy – a practice known in both traditional and new media worlds as “newsgathering” – and to offer a reliable or at least entertaining interpretation of current events.
New media has allowed these influencers to grow large audiences, though the successful migration of traditional media companies into the same spaces has been similarly crucial.
What’s Likely This Time
The importance of influencers in Australian electoral politics is overstated. The Gen Z party founded in 2023 to run influencer candidates has seemingly disbanded; Leach was unsuccessful in her 2023 campaign as it seems van den Lamb will be in 2025.
Yet influencers have already been shaping politics in Australia. Researchers found that they played a role in defeating the Voice to Parliament and figures like Anderson are an already integrated aspect of the Coalition’s online presence.
While it is unclear whether campaign billboards funded by Konrad Benjamin and his audience will sway voters, they might at least direct public debate.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
