Voices of Tasmania Launches Voter Survey

Media release – Voices of Tasmania, 24 May 2023

Your choice, your Tasmania

Wanted: 5000 Tasmanian viewpoints. Yours.

With all the chaos of the last few weeks it seems the Rockcliff government has forgotten it is answerable to the people.

It’s time to offer a sensible, intelligent and informed alternative to represent this state.

Voices of Tasmania believes that for Tasmanians to solve the challenges facing us right now we need different people elected from those who now oversee the current issues. This means Tasmania needs much more locally engaged and community-minded democratic representation.

With 10 new seats available at the 2025 election, we assert there is no better time to support community independents rather than parties and make Tasmanian democracy as diverse as its people.

We are asking and offering Tasmanians to have a real say in how this state grows and develops. By giving your voice to the issues that most affect you and engaging like-minded others to do the same, your participation in the democratic process can change the direction of this state. It’s time to have your say .

With the goal of bringing respect and credibility back to politics, the Voices movement has hit the ground running in Tasmania.

The first stage is to hear from 1000 Tasmanians in each of the five electorates. With 5000 responses, this data will be used to discover what Tasmanians truly want from their political representatives.

Voters are losing trust in the political parties. Community independent politics is filling the void with outstanding leaders who connect with their communities and who aren’t gagged by the party systems.

It happened in Victoria last year when Kooyong residents backed a community independent campaign and replaced high-flying Liberal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg with Dr Monique Ryan. It happened in Sydney when Zali Steggall defeated Tony Abbott. And it can happen in Tasmania.

What was their secret?  People power and leaders truly listening to what their community wants and needs to live good lives.

Right now, dedicated democracy-minded volunteers across Tasmania are getting together to bring this community independents model to life here; by Tasmanians, for Tasmanians. Add your voice; share it with others; volunteer or donate. Let’s hear the changes you want to see here in our beautiful state.

So, have your say. Voices of Tasmania has launched the Have Your Say survey statewide at https://voicesoftasmania.org/survey/.

When asked to elaborate, Michael Roberts, Convenor of Voices of Tasmania said, “What we’re hearing is that Tasmanians are fed up with poor quality representation by their politicians, no matter which party they belong to. And they’re looking for high quality candidates who’ll represent them and their area, not just follow party ideology.”

“Our aim to increase participation in democracy, and to make it easy and empowering to be active.  People tell us the parties are too often stuck in the mud and lacking real solutions to the pressing problems of 2023. They’re looking for a better alternative, for individual candidates who aren’t tied to the restrictions of party politics.”

Voices of Tasmania will publicly report on the findings of the survey and lobby all candidates and current members of parliament to heed the voices of their fellow Tasmanians.

“After we’ve collected so many Tasmanians voices, our job is to connect them with well-informed and genuinely independent candidates who respect and value their input. And we’ll be calling on all candidates to stand up for what we found Tasmanians want,” Mr Roberts said.

“What Braddon wants and needs is different from Franklin. And Lyons is so very different to Clark and Bass. This is true representative democracy in action,” he said.

“We don’t need more of the party bosses and vested interests that the mainland keep pushing onto us, and we don’t need more advice from people who don’t live here and don’t struggle to keep a roof over their heads.”

“We have active volunteers in each region of Tassie who are getting out and really listening to people from all walks of life, and we’d love more volunteers to join us. This wave is growing fast, there are great people coming out of the woodwork to get behind community independents and the Voices approach. You only have to look at the success of David Pocock and Zoe Daniel to see what an army of enthusiastic volunteers can achiev,” Mr Roberts said.

Responding to questions about ‘Teals’ and ‘disaffected Liberals’, northern volunteer John Harris responded, “We’re not politicians, we’re all about community engagement in politics; about people finding their voice and common interests for the good of our state. It’ll be up to each candidate to decide what they campaign on and what colour they use – as independent individuals!”

“True community independents look to make politics genuinely representative again,” Mr Harris said. “With names like Andrew Wilkie, Meg Webb, Ruth Forrest and Kristie Johnston having already proven the value of community-focused independents in Tasmania, it’s time to have more candidates and democratically elected community representatives who care about the people more than a political party.”

Voices of Tasmania Inc is a non-partisan, not-for-profit association. We are not a party; we are independent of party politics, lobby groups and corporate interests.