By CAITLIN CROWLEY | EXCLUSIVE
CONFUSION in the community around the role of local government and its responsibilities has emerged as a key concern among Southern Queensland council candidates, who are experimenting with creative ways to combat disengagement and connect with voters in the lead up to next month’s election.
The Caller went looking for what campaign strategies are resonating with rate payers, and while locals can still expect plenty of tried and true methods like corflute signs, door-knocking, billboards and letter box drops, there are plenty of candidates looking to put a twist on tradition and offer something new.
Meeting voters “where they’re at”
Political newcomer Andrew Reeson (pictured above) had heads turning from day one of the campaign in Toowoomba, thanks to one of his corflute slogans which refers to him as the ‘Leather Guy from the Market’ – having become a regular at Toowoomba Farmers’ Market selling handcrafted leather goods over the last five years.
Speaking to the Caller wearing a campaign t-shirt which plays on the lifelong mispronunciation of his last name, Reeson’s campaign creativity also carried over to his decision to host a series of community events including a free barbecue, kids activities and skate lessons, and a community bike ride.
“We had about 100 bikes there, and it was a tonne of people who would never go to a political event but I deliberately did something that engaged with their existing interests, something that would genuinely be a good day out for families,” Reeson said.
“So there’s incentive to go rather than trying to convince those people to go to a political event.”
Reeson told the Caller he was passionate about “engaging people where they’re at”, which was why door-knocking would also be a key strategy for his team.
“There’s a few reasons why people feel disengaged. Part of it is dissatisfaction with the current council, and successive councils, not just this current one,” he said.
“There’s a feeling that we are stuck, that change can’t really happen and that elections don’t change much and so people aren’t engaging because they feel like there’s just no point.
“I think a lot of the problems we have as a society come back to that disengagement – it’s not that people don’t want good things to happen they just don’t have the capacity to show up at community forums and Q&As and go and search through 30 people’s different websites.”
It’s a sentiment shared by Goondiwindi Regional Council candidate Julia Spicer (pictured above), who said for any good community engagement you “go where the energy is”.
“The energy for this is not likely to be found at 7 o’clock at night through the week, to come and listen to 10 people,” Spicer said, referring to traditional “meet the candidate” events.
“So whatever I’m going to say at the council things, I’m going to do a video and put it on my socials.
“We’re unlikely to see many young, family people turn up to our ‘meet the councillor’ or ‘meet the candidate’ events because they’re all at night – they’re all on a school night.
“Then we go, younger people in the community aren’t interested, or whatever the story is that we tell ourselves about that, but really we’re not helping ourselves to get them engaged because we pick some of these terrible times of the day and night to run these community events.”
Spicer joked that she might just turn up at the region’s small schools during school pick up times, because that was the kind of place you could quickly engage with voters, face to face.
“I think we need to go back to basics around how we really communicate and share stories and do things,” she said.
Spicer, a well-known local business owner and Queensland’s Chief Entrepreneur, told the Caller she wouldn’t be using any corflute signs because of the cost and environmental impacts, but that she was still trying to balance the need for “traditional ways of campaigning that suit a really traditional and conservative community”.
For those candidates who do stick with corflute signs, the big questions are what to put on them and where to display them, for maximum effect.
Andrew Reeson said he tried to simplify his key issues into two or three word slogans, with some really specific topics such as “Shaded Playgrounds” and “Sustainable Development” to appeal to a wide range of voters.
Toowoomba candidate Trevor Manteufel said his slogan “It’s time for common sense” was hitting the mark with locals, but it was the location of his signs he felt people were particularly taking notice of.
“It’s cutting through and the point with my signs, is that I’m getting a majority of my signs on private property,” he said.
“I’ve got over 120 in Toowoomba already on private property with another five to put up this afternoon, so it is working.”
Campaigning, but with a side of myth busting
Several candidates expressed surprise at how often they were being asked about issues which weren’t the responsibility of local government.
“Some of the questions I have been asked by members of the community are about responsibilities that should sit with the state and federal government and it’s clear to me that in regional areas like ours, there are a lot of gaps in service delivery that the other levels of government really do need to be take accountability for,” South Burnett Mayoral candidate Kirstie Schumacher (pictured below) said.
“It is making it difficult as a candidate in the local council, in the closest level of government to the people, you are often questioned and challenged about things that are way out of your control.
“There is a lot of mistrust in the different levels of government and people are feeling like they have been let down and that has been an interesting insight.
“For some people in our community, meeting a candidate is perhaps the only interaction they have with any form of government and so that does worry me in some ways because the people representing regional areas really do need to be part of our community and taking responsibility for these challenges that we’re facing.”
“If I think about the majority of conversations that I’m having with people there is still a lack of connection between what Council does, and what community thinks they do,” Spicer said.
“Sometimes there’s that perception, and this would be in heaps of other small towns as well, where you’ve got to be retired from business before you can join council.
“And I’ve been – no no – you’ve still got to be hungry while you’re around that table, right. You need to be ambitious and want to challenge the status quo.”
Why does this election campaign feel different?
Four weeks out from the March 16 poll and there is general consensus amongst many Darling Downs candidates that so far, the campaign has looked and felt very different from local election battles past.
It was an exceptionally slow start with fewer people than usual putting their hand up to run, and only a handful of Toowoomba candidates actively campaigning from the day the election was called on January 29.
Several candidates including Toowoomba Deputy Mayor Rebecca Vonhoff have only announced their candidacy in the last week, and many others including high-profile Toowoomba businessman Gary Gardner, waited until nominations closed on Monday to confirm their intention to run.
“The main comment that people have is that it doesn’t seem like much is happening – there’s not as many candidates running, a lot of people are saying they haven’t heard anything, we don’t know who any of these people are,” Andrew Reeson said.
Kirstie Schumacher (pictured above) announced her intention to run for South Burnett Mayor in August last year and six months on, she has her own theories as to why fewer people might be putting their hand up.
“It’s a very big job and often a thankless job and it concerns me that more people aren’t considering being part of it,” she said.
“I think perhaps, we need to think about the way in which we as residents in our communities, treat our councillors. They are members of our community, just like us, and they are doing their best often in really challenging circumstances.
“You are putting your name, your reputation and your money on the line in an effort to try to help and be part of something bigger and better for your community and I think that’s often misunderstood as well.
“It’s not because they don’t want to be involved, I think in some ways it’s fear of what they may have to put up with if they are elected, and that worries me.
“We really do need to support our local candidates and I would just encourage your readers, if they meet someone running for council, you may not agree with their policies or their stance but please be polite, please be respectful.
“It doesn’t take much to be kind to each other and it makes all the difference on the campaign trail.”
**If there’s a local government election story you’d like us to know about, email [email protected]
Mailchimp Subscription
Source: countrycaller.com.au
George Barham, an accomplished journalist and avid gambling enthusiast, serves as the esteemed Editor-in-Chief at fly-to-australia.com, Australia’s leading source for comprehensive gambling news and insights. With an unwavering passion for both the written word and the ever-evolving world of betting and gaming, George brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the helm of our editorial team.
