Media
Photo: AFR
Australian Financial Review
The Australian Financial Review’s (AFR) annual analysis of the country’s most powerful people was released on 30th September. The AFR’s panel identified Cathy McGowan as being in the top 10 Covert Power List and 2nd most influential on the Cultural Power List. Panelists made the following comments about the impact Cathy, CIP and the teals have had on politics and the nation:
‘Cathy’s covert power will continue as a sounding board for the teals as well as the ongoing Community Independents Project, which seeks to get more people from outside the major parties into parliaments across the country.’ Anthony Reed
‘It’s structurally impossible for the Liberal Party to win an election without reconciling the seats that the teals have won off them. I think that makes the teals deeply socially and politically significant and, currently, much more so than the Greens.’ Stephen Smith
‘Cathy McGowan's influence has been seismic in the sense that she was the influence, the inspiration, the motivator behind the independents.’ Julie Bishop
‘In a political system dominated by the two major parties, Cathy McGowan has revived grassroots campaigning and local engagement.' Lisa Murray
'People of all ages and backgrounds who had never been involved in politics got involved in their community-led campaigns, and loved it. They made the community and voters feel like they had a voice.' Fiona Menzies
Links to the AFR articles:
30 Sept 2022
Videos and podcasts
Outrage and Optimism
The team at Outrage and Optimism celebrated the end of the climate wars after activated communities spoke up at the Australian election. Now they follow up by talking to Zali Steggall, trailblazing Independent MP for Warringah, and Mike Cannon-Brookes in the wake of climate legislation.
7.30
Helen Haines, the newly appointed Deputy Chair of the of the Joint Committee on National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) Legislation, discusses with Laura Tingle, Labor’s plan for national anti-corruption body, the draft bill she put forward in the last parliament and the crossbench’s role in pursuing and progressing integrity legislation over the past 10 years.
27 Sept 2022
Australian Story
Once one of the greats of rugby union, David Pocock is now striding a very different playing field.
The former captain of the Wallabies has become a powerbroker in the Senate and is seen to hold the key for the Albanese Government to pass its legislative agenda.
Having first profiled Pocock in 2015, Australian Story goes behind the scenes again as Pocock tackles his first few months as the new independent senator for the ACT.
Everyone wants a piece of him and we see Pocock flexing a different kind of muscle to secure the amendments he seeks to the government’s historic Climate Change Bill.
13 Sept 2022
Energy Insiders Podcast 16
Independent MP Helen Haines discusses how the crossbench is having a significant influence on policy, planning for the electrification of homes & communities, the need for EV standards and systems to support agriculture.
16 Aug 2022
Four Corners
Independents’ Day - behind the scenes with the women shaking up Australian politics.
15 Aug 2022
Katerina Gaita – ChangeMaker Chat – Community Independents
This ChangeMaker Chat talks to Katerina Gaita the Field Organiser and Volunteer Coordinator for Zoe Daniel’s campaign in Goldstein. She unpacks the long march of the independents, starting with Cathy McGowan winning in Indi to the ‘Wave of Teal’ in 2022. As a community organiser and community builder she explains how she learnt to translate her skills as an activist to help her design a campaign that could win a majority of votes for climate and political integrity in a conservative electorate. In doing so she challenges us all to think about the place that elections can play in changemaking.
9 Aug 2022
Nick Haines – ChangeMaker Chats – Independents and Elections
The 2022 Australian Election is all about the Independent ‘Teal’ Candidates - but where did this Independent movement come from? Today we talk with Nick Haines, Voices for Indi activist, and son of Helen Haines, Member for Indi, about how it all began. He shares his family’s story and how he helped support Cathy McGowan, the first of the Independent Candidates, to win the seat of Indi from Sophie Mirabella back in 2013. This is a conversation about how community organising has helped community leaders create a different kind of political representation all across Australia.
Nick has been part of a team of authors writing a book about this movement called - “The People are Interested in Politics” Use the discount code ‘ChangeMakers’ to order an advance copy here: lanewaypress.com.au/product/the-peo…ed-in-politics/
17 May 2022
Australian Story
Investigates the independent candidates' secret weapon to win election seats.
12 May 2022
The Guardian
‘Don’t get mad, get elected’: Independent Cathy McGowan gives valedictory speech
4 Apr 2019
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