By Parker McKenzie
A community-based political engagement group – inspired by the success of independent candidates elsewhere in Australia – has started searching for a local candidate to run for the seat of Casey in the next federal election.
The Voices Of Casey group is launching with an online information session on 27 January and a meet-and-greet with former MP Cathy McGowan and writer Tim Flannery on 8 February.
Voices Of Casey member Fionn Dowd said climate change, women’s rights and integrity in politics were key issues to consider for the group when choosing the right person to represent the community.
“The philosophy isn’t vote for me, it’s about voting for someone who represents the communities’ values,” she said.
“If they tick all those boxes when they apply, there will then be a panel interview.”
Anyone interested in running as the Voices Of Casey candidate has until 7 February to apply, before an intensive selection process begins.
The Casey electorate is located in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne and includes the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges. Suburbs in the electorate include Belgrave, Kallista, Kalorama, Monbulk, Olinda, Sassafras, Tecoma and Upwey.
The group was inspired by Voices For Indi, which formed in 2012 after people within the electorate felt they weren’t being represented by their elected officials, and other Voices groups which have been formed.
Ms Dowd said the group would rely heavily on the processes and concept developed by Voices of Indi when they elected Cathy McGowan to federal parliament in 2013 and 2016, and Helen Haines in 2019. Indi is the only federal electorate to be represented by two successive independent candidates.
“To have elected a nurse, midwife and hospital administrator like Helen Haines into federal politics is an impressive outcome,” she said.
“For Voices For Indi to have the foresight to build a template for others around the country to use is truly amazing,
“We haven’t got as much time as other groups to organise, so we’ll have to move quickly.”
The panel will be made up of members from established Voices Of groups like Indi, to give guidance to a new group with dwindling time before a federal election that will be held in May at the latest.
A Voices group, using the model developed in Indi, also endorsed Zali Steggall in Warringah when she beat former-Prime Minister Tony Abbott in 2019 federal election.
In the lead up to the 2022 federal election, over 40 Voices Of groups have formed around Australia to elect independent candidates and challenge incumbent MPs, mainly from the Liberal-Nationals party.
For more information visit www.facebook.com/VoicesofCasey or www.voicesofcasey.org/candidate_search
