Who’s afraid of the independents?

The fear of the LNP for independents is increasingly evident. It was evident in the letter to The Chronicle from Neil Munro on Monday (14 April). Neither of our local independent candidates self-identifies as ‘Teal’. The one most feared by the LNP, Suzie Holt, accumulated 43% of the votes after preferences in 2022 and has been campaigning strongly ever since. She has a real chance of success. Mr Munro attempted to condemn her by falsely linking her to the Teals without admitting his own allegiance to the LNP as a branch official.

On the same day our mailbox contained an LNP card that made no mention of any LNP policy. Instead it claimed, untruthfully, that “a Teal independent is contesting Groom”, arguing that independents “can’t fix the BIG problems”. Not citing any LNP policy is implicit recognition that the LNP has no solutions either.

As I noted in a recent post, both the LNP and the ALP consistently fail to address serious problems. Instead they bicker and blame each other, serving the interests of their parties and their big business backers rather than the people.

It is the independents who are listening to their electorates and presenting fresh ideas that might move the nation forward. Analysis of voting published by The Guardian confirms that they are voting for legislation on its merits rather than being locked to a specific party position as LNP or ALP representatives are.

It’s past time for a major change in the way we do politics in Australia. Fresh ideas and willingness to approach issues on their merits rather than supporting or opposing purely for partly loyalty offer a way forward. Vote independent.