WITH the selection of Deb Leonard as its candidate for the federal seat of Monash, Voices for Monash (V4M) is offering voters a chance to participate in the political process way beyond just the casting of a vote.
Rather than voting for a local member who’s always required to put loyalty to their political party ahead of the best interests of their electorate, Monash voters have the chance to vote for real community representation.
As we see over and over again, good community representation cannot come through political parties that are hierarchically organised, male-dominated and captured by special interests.
Engaging voters through kitchen table conversations and listening events across the electorate means V4M hears directly from the community about the issues that are important and what sort of representation they expect from their local member.
In saying she would maintain kitchen table conversations as an elected parliamentarian, Deb Leonard would be taking local views on national issues into the parliament and feeding them into the debate. There would be no party chiefs telling her what she can and cannot say.
This is getting us towards true deliberative democracy, where the considered opinions and needs of electorates become part of legislative debates. And when multiple independent Voices candidates sit in the parliament politics becomes much more a matter of community representation rather than party and special interest representation.
In sending Deb Leonard to parliament, Monash voters can have their issues and views made part of the national political process, as well as being a part of a growing national movement to put the community above the parties and their backers.
Tony Walker, Fish Creek
