Candidate Statements a valuable resource for voters

Pity the poor voter who wants to do the right thing and choose his or her own preferred five candidates out of between 24 and 33 declared candidates in his/her electorate from as many as 9 parties and a slate of between 2 and 8 independents.

The Canberra Alliance for Participatory Democracy is trying to make it easier for voters to compare candidates by providing in one place candidate statements from as many of the candidates as are willing. And the number of willing candidates continues to rise.

Some voters who have examined these candidate statements have said that they prefer to vote for only those candidates who have submitted a statement.

Sixteen days out from the election the website contains statements from 48 of the 141 candidates, mainly from the major parties and independents. The candidate statement includes four elements: qualification to be a parliamentarian; policy passions of the candidate; a statement of how they intend to represent the electorate; and agreement or modification of a six point “Charter of Democratic Commitment”.

Beth Slatyer, the co-convenor of the Canberra Alliance said today, “The Alliance exists to give Canberrans a greater say and an opportunity to improve how our democratic system is working. Elections are the only time we get to have our say and unless we have a greater understanding of the things that drive the candidates we are left totally in the hands of the parties and those who fund them. We think its very important that voters have the information they need to distinguish between candidates, including between candidates in the same party.”

The candidate statements may be downloaded HERE. The statements are grouped by electorate and arranged in the order in which parties and ungrouped candidates will appear on the ballot papers for that electorate.

 

Who has made a statement?

Electorate	Ginninderra	Brindabella	Yerrabi	Murrumbidgee	Kurrajong	Total (% total announced candidates in party)
Liberal Party	Vicki Dunne Denise Fisher Paul Sweeney	Ed Cocks Nicole Lawder Mark Parton	Jacob Vadakkedathu	Jeremy Hanson Peter Hosking	Candice Burch Brooke Curtin Elizabeth Lee	12/25 (48%)
ALP	Chris Bourke Tara Cheyne Gordon Ramsay	Angie Drake Karl Malfoum Taimus Werner-Gibbings	Meegan Fitzharris Suzanne Orr	Jennifer Newman Chris Steele	Andrew Barr Richard Niven Rachel Stephen-Smith	13/25 (52%)
Greens	Indra Essguerra	Michael Mazengarb	Veronica Wensing Andrew Braddock Tobias Holm	Caroline Le Couteur Emma Davidson Jennifer Faerber	Shane Rattenbury Rebecca Vasarotti	10/15 (67%)
Like Canberra	Richard Harriss	Richard Tuffin Tim Friel				3/10 (30%)
Australian Sex Party						0/5
Animal Justice Party						0/7
Canberra Community Voters Party	Geoff Kettle				Lucinda Spiers	2/8 (25%)
Liberal Democrats						0/17
Community Alliance						0/2
Sustainable Australia						0/10
Independent	Leigh Watson Vijay Dubey Ian Coombes	Joel McKay	David Pollard		Marea Fatseas Peter Robinson Graham Strachan	8/17 (47%)
(% total announced candidates in electorate)	12/33 (36%)	10/28 (36%)	7/24 (29%)	7/29 (24%)	12/27 (44%)	48/141 (34%)
Total Candidates	33	28	24	29	27	141

 

For other comments contact Beth Slatyer 040 999 5850 or Bob Douglas 0409 233 138