Taylor Swift's reach is limitless. Even Aussie politics isn't immune

Well, according to former Labor senator Sam Dastyari in 2015, her song Blank Space was a modern soliloquy for the Liberal Party, specifically aiming it at then-foreign minister and deputy leader Julie Bishop, who had survived the leadership spill that saw Tony Abbott ousted, and Malcolm Turnbull become prime minister.

It was because of this spill - and the fact Bishop had "survived", at that point, four spills as deputy leader - that Dastyari had called out on Twitter for a song that summed up the political party.

He started with Destiny's Child's Survivor, but while speaking in the Senate, settled on the Swift song - the joke being that the leadership position was just a "blank space" the Liberal party could continually refill with the next cab-off-the-rank. (For those who don't know the the song, the lyrics include "I've got a blank space, baby, and I'll write your name.")

But he didn't just reference the song. He quoted three verses of the song - which is now immortalised in Hansard.

"I am quoting a poet here. I notice that other senators are laughing; I just do not think they are treating this with the respect that it deserves," he said at the time.

As a branding moment, it worked in Dastyari's favour. It made international news, with journalists here and overseas in awe at his seamless combination of pop culture and politics. Except it wasn't the first time Swift's song had been quoted in the Australian parliament following a leadership spill. It was just the first time it got good press.

A few months earlier - the day after the first (and failed) attempt at ousting Tony Abbott in February 2015 - former Labor MP Terri Butler referenced the song and the 39 people who voted for a "blank space" rather than Tony Abbott as Liberal leader.

"I think there must be some Taylor Swift fans amongst the Coalition when there are 39 voting for a blank space - there was no other candidate looking for the prime ministership, at least not publicly, and yet 39 of them voted for that blank space - and of course, there was one informal vote," she said.

It was essentially the same joke, and yet the only press she received was half a sentence in a Guardian opinion piece headlined "Hey, politicians, keep your grubby hands off Taylor Swift".

And according to ANU political history PhD student Madeline Pentland this says more about Australian politics than you would first think.

"Taking a step back, it definitely feels like a gendered difference," Pentland says.

"And that kind of gender difference between the media reception of these quotes is an interesting catalyst for how the public will receive it. If they're funnelled to the public in a negative way, they're probably going to be received in a negative way."

Pentland's PhD is not on Taylor Swift. But it is on women in politics and as a long-time Swiftie, she used her knowledge of Australian politics and the pop star to research, write and present a paper at the recent Swiftposium academic summit in Melbourne.

Analysing the Taylor Swift references in Australian parliamentary speech, Pentland was able to give a gendered analysis of not only who was saying them but how they were used and received.

There are a total of 28 Swift's lyrics that have been referenced in Australian parliament from 2015 to 2023. It started with Butler - who also went on to reference Shake It Off and the Hottest 100 snub in that same speech - during the height of the 1989 album or "era".

That album also proved to be the most popular album referenced in Australian parliament, having been mentioned 19 times. Other lyrics quoted have been from the Red, Reputation, and Lover albums.

But it does beg the question, why are politicians talking about the lyrics of a pop star?

"It started when Taylor became this pop star, a global pop star, and politicians would have started noticing that the younger generation was singing her songs," Pentland says.

"My hypothesis is that they are garnering that audience. And what is the most interesting is the titles of these people who are trying to appeal to the younger generation. We start seeing senators, ministers, but also former prime minister Scott Morrison - he's one of the major ones - saying these quotes."

And it's mainly men saying these quotes.

Of the 19 1989 references, 15 were made by male politicians. And they're used for a wide range of topics, including public housing, Indigenous cultural heritage, leadership spills and gender equality.

But, interestingly, in the case of gender equality, it is women who are quoting Swift. This time, it's the 2019 song The Man being referenced in Victorian parliament on the Gender Equality Act 2020. A single from the album, Lover, it centres around the theme of gender inequality with lyrics including "I'm so sick of running as fast as I can wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man".

"Women used [the song] The Man specifically as a visible example of what Taylor Swift's feminism can be and the reach that it can have," Pentland says.

"That's a really interesting piece of political history that [Swift is] involved in. Because obviously, that passed ... so she had an inadvertent influence in feminist social legislation in Victoria."

But while it was mainly women quoting The Man when it came to gender equality, Pentland says the references were often frivolous quips by men.

So are there more male Swifties in parliament than female Swifties? After all, some of these politicians are not just referencing Swift in parliament but also attending concerts. It's not that simple.

"Historically, men have had more of an opportunity to speak in Parliament," Pentland says.

"So if women have less of the opportunity to speak, they're probably less likely to use it in a way that is going to reference something so frivolous as a pop culture reference. They're going to likely use that platform for their electorate."