We want 5000 Tasmanian viewpoints. Yours.
Why? Because democracy is a verb; it’s a doing word. And we’re asking YOU to do something.
We are asking and offering Tasmanians to have a real say in how this state grows and develops. What do you most want and not want? What needs to change and be changed by our government? By adding your voice, and actively engaging like-minded others to do the same, your participation in the democratic process can bring about massive change.
It happened in Victoria last year when Kooyong residents replaced Liberal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg with Dr Monique Ryan, a Community Independent. It happened in Sydney when Zali Steggall defeated Tony Abbott. And many other places. What was their secret? People power; and truly listening to what this community wants and needs to live good lives.
And now it’s starting up here in Tasmania. Right now, dedicated democracy-minded volunteers across Tasmania are pooling their resources to bring this Community Independents model to life here; by Tasmanians, for Tasmanians.
“What we’re hearing is that Tasmanians are fed up with poor quality representation by their politicians, no matter which party they belong to,” said Michael Roberts, Voices of Tasmania Convenor. “And they’re looking for high quality candidates who’ll represent them and their area, not just follow party ideology.”
“Tasmanians are fed up with poor quality representation by their politicians, no matter which party they belong to”
“Our aim to increase participation in democracy, and to make it easy, fun and empowering to be active. People tell us the parties are too often stuck in the mud and lacking real solutions to the pressing problems of 2023. They’re looking for a better alternative. Looking for individual candidates who aren’t tied to the restrictions of party politics.”
With the goal of bringing respect and credibility back to politics, the Voices movement has hit the ground running in Tasmania.
The first stage is to hear from 1000 Tasmanians in each of the five electorates. With 5000 responses, this data will be used to discover what Tasmanians truly want from their political representatives.
In early 2024, Voices of Tasmania will publicly report on the findings and lobby all candidates and current members of parliament to heed the voices of their fellow Tasmanians.
“After we’ve collected Tasmanian voices together our job is to connect them with well-informed and genuinely independent candidates who respect and value their input. Our motto is ‘We offer better”’ And we’ll be calling on all candidates to stand up for the what we found Tasmanians wanted from their survey results,” Mr Roberts said.
This is true representative democracy in action
“What Braddon wants and needs will be different from Franklin. This is true representative democracy in action,” he said.
Voices of Tasmania believes that for Tasmanians to solve the challenges facing us right now we need different people elected from those who oversee the current issues. This means Tasmania needs much more locally engaged democratic representation.
With 10 new seats available at the 2025 election, the group asserts there is no better time to support community independents rather than parties and make Tasmanian democracy as diverse as its people.
“We have active volunteers in each region of Tassie who are getting out and really listening to people from all walks of life, and we’d love more volunteers to join us.” Mr Roberts said.
Responding to questions about “Teals” and “Disaffected Liberals”, Northern volunteer John Harris responded, “We’re not career politicians, we’re all about community engagement in politics; about people finding their voice and common interests for the good of our state. It’ll be up to each candidate to decide what they campaign on and what colour they use – as independent individuals!”
“They’re true Community Independents looking to make politics genuinely representative again,” Mr Harris said.
“With names like Andrew Wilkie, Meg Webb and Kristie Johnston having already proven the value of Independents in Tasmania, it’s time to have more democratically elected community representatives in our government.”
The Voices of Tasmania “Have Your Say” survey is open and seeking your input. As we said at the start, we want 5000 Tasmanian viewpoints. And we want them now. If you haven’t already completed the Voices survey; please do so.
And share it far and wide!
