IN A bygone age people formed and joined political parties as a means to an end. Parties proposed policies that their members believed would fix problems. Attracting new party members and growing your public support was the foundation for success. Getting enough of your people elected was the way to enact your policies. The party organisation existed to give voice to the membership and the party representatives spoke for their membership.

Often there might be sharp disagreement between parties since one party policy might conflict with the interests of another party’s supporters, for example, workplace safety policies. But the basic approach to politics was, firstly to identify objectives, next to define policies you believed would help meet those objectives, then to argue your case in the public space. You might agree or disagree, but you had a pretty good idea of what the party stood for. Now fast forward to today.

Can anyone tell me, with a straight face, what either the Labor or Liberal parties actually stand for? We know from experience that what’s printed on the packaging has little, if any, resemblance to what’s in the box. Seriously, if Labor or Liberal were cereal brands you’d get malnutrition or food poisoning if you tried to eat them. What began as a means to an end has become an end in itself, and it’s a dead end.

In this coming election, in the seat of Monash, we have an alternative to the pointless party pantomime, community independent Deb Leonard. Deb’s policies come from the people of our community.

Deb’s support base is the thousands of signed-up supporters and hundreds of volunteers who have been wearing out their shoe leather and bending our ears. To those who murmur ominously about the financial support her campaign has received from community organisations, I say, “So what?”. Money is worthless without grassroots support, and it is that support which makes her a credible candidate.

You can vote for a party if you really want more of the same, or you can vote for a person. I’m voting for a person. I’m voting for Deb Leonard.

Bill Legge, Warragul