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The Independent Movement

Why Vote Independent? 

Across Australia, communities are looking for an alternative to the major parties. Nowhere was this more evident than in the results of the last Federal Election. On 21 May 2022, seven new Community Independents were elected, joining the four already there, leading to the biggest crossbench Australia has ever seen.

The Community Independents movement is people powered, purposeful and collaborative, united by wanting genuine community representation and propelled by the urgency of the issues that face us. (Community Independents Project)

 

Over the past few years we've seen Australians continue to grow dissatisfied with the inability of the major parties to listen to, understand, and respond to unique community visions and needs. Independent Lyne believes that a community-backed independent MP in the next Australian Parliament will give us a genuine opportunity to have our voices heard.

 

Safe Seats are taken for granted

Lyne has been a declared safe seat for the National Party for decades. The only time a non-National Party candidate has been successful, was in 2008 when local state Independent and ex-National MP Rob Oakeshott won the by-election and was re-elected in 2010.

Safe seats make political parties comfortable and complacent. Without the threat of a challenge, there is no incentive for improved outcomes and the status quo remains.

 

The Canberra Bubble just doesn’t get regional communities

The focus of major political parties is always Canberra-centric. They view the world through the lens of their party agendas, caucuses, and coalitions – which are all dominated by MPs from metropolitan and urban seats (which outnumber regional, rural and remote seats almost 2:1).

Regional communities in Lyne need representatives who will argue for legislation and policy that makes sense in a regional environment.

 

Major Parties are more about politics than people

MPs of major parties are burdened by the requirement to toe the party line. And party politics is itself burdened by the expectations of major donors, factional fighting and negotiations, extensive party bureaucracy, and the pursuit of personal political ambition.

Independent MPs are free of these constraints – and able to set the agenda for change based on community voices not party politics.