The second national Community Independents Convention, August 2022
by Alana Johnson
The “Empowered Communities: Next Steps” Convention marks 10 years since Cathy McGowan called together of group of people to talk about what could be done about the parlous state of democracy in the electorate of Indi. What ensued was the formation of Voices for Indi, the election and re-election of Cathy McGowan as the Community Independent member for Indi, Helen Haines holding the seat in the 2019 election and Zali Steggall winning the Sydney seat of Warringah. 2021/22 saw the blossoming of the Community Independent movement in electorates across Australia, with some 38 ‘Voices 4’ type groups formed and Community Independent candidates standing in 24 federal electorates.
2022 was a federal election like no other and aptly this convention began with a celebration. Convention participants from more than 100 electorates have met one another online and shared their highlights from the election campaigns. The glory of what has been achieved was summed by Anyo from Mackeller electorate in reminding us that ‘ordinary everyday people have achieved this’ .
Yes we, all of us, people from all walks of life have created this historical shift in parliamentary representation.
This gives cause to give thanks for our democratic freedoms in Australia, for what citizens were able to achieve in safety and with respect and free speech which is not possible in some other countries.
The 2022 election is a launch pad for doing politics differently. As declared by Kylea Tink ‘getting a Community Independent to Canberra is only the start”. Together with these MPs we are co creating a new era of Australian politics. We, people in communities are actively reclaiming a democracy of the people, by the people, for the people.
The “Empowered Communities: Next Steps” Convention set out to ensure we keep the voice of community at the centre of politics, not big business, not unions, not Parties, not donors and lobbyists and influencers. We are reassured to hear the new Community Independent Members of Parliament speak of ‘standing for community’ and ‘bringing community into parliament’. To hear Zoe Daniel say she is ‘in and of community’ and Kylea Tink state ‘it’s the North Sydney voice I am delivering to Parliament’.
We didn’t just vote for a better MP of a different ‘colour’ and have been reassured as they all spoke with conviction about genuine real representation and about restoring trust and integrity. It is what we want to hear, it is what we have all worked for, it is what our parliament needs.
This Convention had three areas of focus.
Firstly, how the Community Independent members of Parliament will work with community.
Helen Haines and Zali Steggall spoke of the ‘compact’ they have with their communities that guides their actions as politicians. They told us about their work with community to effect real change in developing and putting forward the Australian Federal Integrity Commission and the Climate bills to parliament. Helen Haines described the (re)distribution of political power in Indi over the past ten years that has resulted in fundamental shift in the relationship between constituents and MP.
Newly elected Member for Wentworth, Allegra Spender spoke about not only ‘enabling the community’ who have worked for and voted for her but to ‘reach those who didn’t’, to act with and for them. And Dr. Sophie Scamps, Member for Mackellar committed to faithfully ‘remain part of her community, equal to them’ and ‘reaching out into their space’.
Member for Nth Sydney, Kylea Tink talked of the need to be prepared as this sharing of power will get pushback as it is seen by some to ‘threaten the entire power structure’ and the media itself is invested in division.
This is a reminder to all of us that we will need to support these MPs to do what they are in Parliament to do, to actively be there for them.
The second focus was how empowered communities will work with their members of Parliament. For those electorates that now have a Community Independent MP the next task is to find ways to work with your representative that suits your electorate. This is your opportunity to not only have a representative that listens to you, communicates with you and consults with you but is willing to collaborate with community, to partner with community and be a conduit for community to Ministers and decision makers.
This requires MPs to act in a way that empowers their communities, to step into power with them. It requires community to be proactive, to not just hand problems to their MP but to develop solutions they can work on in collaboration with their MP.
The convention heard from Helen Haines about how Totally Renewable Indi has been developed by community. In Warringah #Climate Act Now continues to reach beyond the electoral boundary. Other electorates shared their plans for addressing issues important to their communities and how their Community Independent MP is a resource for community to achieve its aims. The member for Curtain, Kate Chaney called upon each of us to consider our own role in democracy.
The third Convention focus was what empowered communities can continue to do to strengthen our democracy. We heard it said that no seat is safe and working toward making more seats marginal, holding the current member accountable, making their actions and their voting decisions transparent are all options to be pursued.
Whether you have a Community Independent MP or not we can all contribute to building public participation in politics. Kylea Tink spoke about achieving a more engaged democracy which requires us to go beyond our own echo chamber, to reach out those people who didn’t vote for a Community Independent MP, to listen to them and invite people into respectful discussion. Elly from Goldstein spoke about spreading Active Hope, and how we can realise this by active inclusion, especially of young people.
One of the themes for this Convention is democracy is not a spectator sport. Many of us have enacted this in volunteering to work for election campaigns but it doesn’t stop on election day. The community independents movement is nation making and we have democracy work to do.
When Cathy McGowan asked each of the new Community Independent MPs what success looks like for them, they all talked about restoring pride in parliament, of trust and integrity and improving how parliament operates, to make decisions that are right for the country, to be led by the values they shared with their communities and to stay connected to their communities.
Finally, Voices 4 type groups continue to emerge in more electorates to provide a platform for people from all walks of life to have a voice. As a nation we are on the cusp of out First Nations peoples ending the generations of powerlessness and claiming a voice on their own behalf, a Voice to Parliament. So for each of us our democracy work needs to also focus on supporting the referendum that would enshrine an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
