Community Independent stories
The highlight for me over the last three years is personal. It was learning of and participating in the 'Independents for Inclusion' float at this year’s Mardi Gras.
Coleen MacKinnon - Warringah
The LGBT community has been relentlessly vilified under the former government - from a delayed and vitriolic marriage equality campaign, to drafting discriminatory legislation to exclude LGBT students and teachers from religious-affiliated schools (representing one-third of all schools), to a targeted attack on Trans women.
Our non binary child (now young adult) has had their share of abusive behaviour since our return to Australia in 2016. Their health and wellbeing suffered tremendously as a result. They’re not a alone of course. 90% of high school students report hearing homophobic language at school and 30% witness or experience physical harassment of LGBT kids (Ullman, J. (2021). Free2Be.. Yet?: Second National Study of Australian High School Students Who Identify as Gender and Sexuality Diverse, Western Sydney University School of Education).
When I heard Zali and her team were organising an Independents for Inclusion float, I was thrilled. Culture, whether a country’s or a company’s, is informed by those at the top. Zali and her fellow Sydney-based Indies were not just speaking the language of love and affirmation, they were walking the talk. Their actions are helping to create a more equal and inclusive Australia where everyone feels valued and respected - regardless of race, gender, sexual identity or any other characteristic with which we are born.
One of my favourite memories from the entire campaign is of Zoe's campaign launch.
Elli Murphy - Goldstein
There was a very excited, slightly nervous group of us who arrived early to rehearse and assist with setting up the event, and at that point the focus was on logistics - how many people would show up, what the best way for us to stand on the stage was, what we should all wear. The election had just been called for May 21st that morning, and we were all excitedly discussing - as political nerds do - what that would mean for the campaign strategy of the parties. Everyone was caught up in the excitement and anticipation of what was about to happen, but none of us had quite yet grasped its significance, including myself.
It was only once I walked forward to the lectern on the stage to introduce Zoe that the gravity of the moment really sunk in. Looking out from the stage, I could see one and a half thousand people covering the oval, looking back at me, many parts of that sea of people coloured teal. I looked down and saw Ian McPhee, the first member for Goldstein and former Liberal cabinet minister, at the front of the crowd. You couldn't help feeling like something extraordinary was happening. I had never seen anything like that before - you just didn't have that many people turn out to watch a candidate announce their run for office, let alone one that belonged to neither of the major parties!
It was history - this was the first time that the community of Goldstein had ever seen something like this. To be a part of that moment where the community rallied to have their voices heard like never before was an immense privilege, and it was a feeling of hope and optimism like I'd never felt before.’
This new Hub allowed us to draw on different people with different skill sets to shine in this campaign.
Kate Sleeman - Indi
I have been a member of Team Orange ever since I turned up to Cathy McGowan’s first campaign launch in Wodonga on a whim. Team Orange are the volunteers for the Community Independent in Indi. First Cathy, now Helen Haines.
There’s an expectation that every town has a campaign Hub. These are run by volunteers. As a place to meet, receive campaign updates, share stories, learn new skills, pick up merchandise, relax, and enjoy food. We realized we had a big problem in Wodonga when we could not find a location for our Hub. Previous Hub locations were no longer available and any vacant shopfronts on our High St were too expensive. Where were we to go? For the largest town in Indi not to secure a Hub would be embarrassing.
Here’s the thing we know in Indi. Our volunteers and friends are an amazing creative group of people. They are willing and excited to make things happen, anywhere, anyway, anyhow, anytime. As long as it is in Orange. We made a breakthrough when we asked ourselves, could a vacant block become our Hub. There is parcel of land near entrance into Wodonga’s CBD. Two major roads converge next to this vacant block. It is such a prominent site that in every election, candidates use it to hang their corflutes. For us to secure this site, would allow us to setup a Hub and have exclusive access to great street presence.
Getting access to the land was the easy part but setting up the Hub was a challenge. It would require different infrastructure, different thinking and change in approach to how we do things. At the beginning, we held regular weekly meetings outside with a few tables, chairs. By the end we had a secure site, a large marquee, two containers to hold equipment and merchandise, many orange flags and Helen Haines Signs.
This Hub was so flexible, it could hold small meetings of 5 and we even hosted Helen’s Campaign Launch. Importantly this new Hub allowed Team Orange to draw on different people with different skill sets to shine in this campaign. And it allowed us also to appeal to different constituents. We saw more newcomers into the Hub than previously.
Finally, we learnt that change is great for campaigns as it fits in with idea of “doing politic differently”. It allows us to flex our values by being brave, inclusive, positive and trusting. And we in Wodonga had the perfect place to celebrate Helen Haines winning the seat of Indi for the second time.
Please share your stories with us
A lot has been written about the May 2022 Election and more books and articles are in the pipeline. All are important and valuable, but we want to capture your stories first hand. Please email us your Election story, memory or highlight as a word doc or use the form on this page. We will be uploading the stories to our website, and if we have enough, we’ll compile them in a digital book entitled “An Election like no other”. Your story can be just a few sentences or up to 500 words. We’d love your favourite photos as well! Please email your photos (and stories if you prefer not to use the form) to info@communityindependentsproject.org
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