Why would I fall in love with you as my Political Candidate, give you my vote, and encourage others to do the same?

So, we have a Victoria State Election coming up this November, and the local candidates are all coming out to woo the voters, including a few personal acquaintances – hard to avoid when you live in a country town, but that’s ok!

I admire these candidates, if, for nothing else, the courage to stand up and be ready to take the blows that come with throwing oneself into the sacrificial fire of public life.  Even more so, because their chances of actually taking the seat away from a very safe conservative electorate are not strong, as overall, Mildura is a very conservative population; but that is no reason to not have a go at challenging the type of representation we currently have. After all, the longest journey starts with the first step!

So here is my advice (not entirely unsolicited) to these and other estimable candidates who step up to the task of vying for the privilege of being paid to represent the marvellous seat of Mildura in North Western Victoria.

Here are just 3 criteria that could entice ME to fall in love with YOU as my potential voice in State Parliament, and actively encourage others to put their trust in you.  If you are an independent or liberal (small l intended) candidate, you may not take away the safe seat the first time, but success would be represented by the number of votes you receive!

• Firstly, and most importantly, I want a representative who genuinely works to engage the YOUNGER voters! I am in my 60’s now, and I know that most people under the age of, say 35, do not read the print press, or watch TV news, which my age group is used to doing!  If they do, then like me they are so ‘over’ and so disgusted by the antics of individuals and parties at all levels, that they put very little credibility in anything said by the same.
  How do I know this? Because I ask them!  For example, on the Friday before the last Federal Election, I was in the local JB Hi-Fi store, and none of the young ‘uns I spoke to were even AWARE there was an election the next day!
  It’s terrible that our younger generation are so ignored and alienated by their pollies – who give them lip service of course, but that is all it is!
  How to engage them?  You will have to work it out with your own integrity, and your PR team – but it WON’T be in the print press, and for the under 30’s, nor will it be on Facebook.  Spend some $$ on a good local PR team, or get your 15 to 25 year old son or daughter to do it for you, it will be worth it!  And you have to mean it!
• Secondly – I want a representative who will fight the tunnel vision of the Victorian State Government: that Victoria consists of just the state capital and regions only a couple of hours away from the Melbourne CBD.
  Infrastructure precedes growth, not always the other way around. Whilst Melbourne population grows and its infrastructure becomes overburdened, it  continues to play ‘catch up’ by implementing Band-Aid measures to assuage these effects while regional areas such as Mildura struggle to grow and offer opportunities to incoming populations and other business opportunities  due to lack of the most basic of services, such as a passenger train!
  All this amongst the latest news that the MELBOURNE rail link to the AIRPORT is to go ahead, saving commuters 10 minutes and about $4 one way, at a cost of $15 billion!  If and when this comes into fruition by the projected 2027, it may already be overtaken by events, and another bandaid structure proposed!
  Demand does not always precede supply – if that were the case then many of the current first world countries would never have emerged.  In America, for example, the East-West continental railway was built to connect the nation, at great financial risk, and no projected prospect of picking up fares from the beleaguered First Nation peoples en route!  Yes, there were commercial factors at play, but that was not all!
  Go back further if you will, even the Romans who occupied Britannica, built the infrastructure first with a view to development!
• Thirdly, (but by no means last) I want a rep who doesn’t talk DOWN to me. I don’t want to be called a “mum or dad”; in attempt for my pollie to show he/she is just like me.  I don’t want someone to assume what I think, when they haven’t bothered to ASK me.
  I AM a mother, a daughter, a sister, an aunt – but NOT any of these to my political representative.
  I AM a CITIZEN, not a voter, consumer, client etc.  I AM A CITIZEN, and this is how I want my political representative to refer and relate to me.  I will take care of all my other relationships, but my relationship to my State rep, is that of citizen to parliamentary representative, and I claim the respect that that deserves.

So, who am I?

I am a voter, a citizen.  My first vote was in the Federal election after the toppling of the Fraser coalition government in 1974.  I barely understood what it meant then. I am not a ‘party’ animal: I have voted Labour, Liberal, Greens, Democrats, and Independent.

I have heard just about every blather and banality that a politician can offer.  I have seen well intentioned people, including those personally known, go into politics, and then be twisted into accordance by the party status quo.  I have followed politics for years, including Australia, America, Britain and Europe.  I am sad that our younger people do not choose to follow their local political scene as it means so much to them as the next generation of political administration.

I am not surprised by this, but I am still optimistic, and hope that it will change for the better – I would love to be around to see it!

How will I vote next November?  Keep the above in mind, and I will let you know!