On the weekend of 26-28 February 2021, Cathy McGowan hosted, Getting Elected, the first national convention for community-minded independents. Attracting more than 300 attendees from 81 electorates, this virtual convention provided a unique opportunity to network, share campaigning skills and learn more about how community independents can change Australia for the better.
The convention provided a powerful and inspiring learning experience for attendees with:
The keynote addresses and panel discussions were recorded and the speakers have generously made them publicy available.
Video coming soon…
Cathy McGowan presented the opening address to Getting Elected: the first national convention for community-minded independents.
Video coming soon…
Dr Helen Haines reflects on what being a community-minded, independent political representative entails, as part of Getting Elected: the first national convention for community-minded independents.
This kit was designed to support Kitchen Table Conversation hosts to guide their meetings, keep the focus and effectively capture the essence of the Kitchen Table Conversations during the 2013 Federal Election campaign in Indi.
Voices for Indi: Next steps was prepared in the aftermath of Voices for Indi’s November 2013 forum, which sought to review the organisation’s progress, and begin to chart its future direction and actions.
Voice 4 Indi: Reflection outlines the feedback from a Voice for Indi public meeting in November 2013, during which participants were invited to comment on what they valued about Voice 4 Indi and how these values might direct future activities.
Voice 4 Indi report explores the outcomes of the Indi Kitchen Table Conversations, a series of discussions among 440 people across the electorate of Indi in 2013, focused on highlighting the issues that mattered to local people in the electoral process and the 2013 federal election.
Indi has been represented by Independents for three elections. There are many lessons to be learnt from the electorate’s preference flows and two-party preferred final results.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has designed a useful role-play to explain how votes are counted, to aid understanding of the distribution of preferences.
The Australian Electoral Commission has created a Candidate’s Handbook with all the details on the legislative requirements for running as a candidate, and the role and responsibilities of an elected member under the law.
Indi Community Summit Report: Delivering our Vision summarises the outcomes of the inaugural Indi Community Summit, 2015. The summit brought together diverse segments of the Indi community to pool their wisdom, experience and ideas and formulate a community perspective of action needed to make the Indi electorate a prosperous, caring community alive with opportunities for all.
Getting things done: the Indi Way is a case study, prepared by Cathy McGowan’s office, showcasing practical examples of Indi communities and their elected federal representative working together to resolve issues, and turn their collective vision into reality.
Whether the tipping point came after watching television, listening to or reading the news, across Australia people are finding their voice and creating pathways to new futures. Here are the stories of those moments from some of the people who in 2019 are standing as Independents, campaigning for them, writing about them or all of the above.
Margo Kingston is a citizen journalist and was an active observer of the Indi election. Her article offers many insights into what happened in North East Victoria in 2013.
Journalist David Estcourt travelled to NE Victoria and filmed the final weeks of Cathy’s 2013 campaign. It is a wonderful documentary of the Indi campaign and grassroots activism, as well as beautiful scenery.
In this paper Tony Perrott outlines some of the background, the data and numbers behind the 2013 Indi campaign.
When representative democracy turns participatory: Interpreting Indi is a paper written by Australian National University Associate Professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy Dr Carolyn Hendriks, for the 2016 Australian Political Studies Association Annual Conference. The paper examines how Voices for Indi sought to reconnect the citizens of the electorate of Indi to the political process and reinvigorate federal representative politics.