A well-organised campaign is mobilising again to shake up Australia’s two-party political system at this year's federal election. The 2022 poll delivered the largest ever crossbench in the house of representatives. This time around, a new crowd-funding initiative is hoping to build on that success, backing independents in regional seats.
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00:00Most of our viewers will have by now heard about Climate 200, which was a fundraising
00:06vehicle that rose to prominence at the last election, backed by Australian businessman
00:10Simon Holmes, a court, and it enjoyed enormous success, backing seven community independents
00:15or so-called TEALs into federal parliament, which basically saw the crossbench in the
00:20lower house swell from six to 16.
00:23So at this election, there is another fundraising vehicle or crowdfunding initiative that's
00:27being established, and it's called the Regional Voices Fund, and the organisers are hoping
00:32to raise $2 million to back climate-focused community independence in rural regional seats.
00:39Now it's been established by Helen McGowan, who's the sister of Cathy McGowan, who of
00:43course broke the Coalition's stronghold on the Victorian seat of India back in 2013,
00:48and effectively launched this community candidate movement.
00:52Now the fund has already dished out some money to nine campaigns in regional areas
00:58being contested by community candidates.
01:00The seats of Indi, Farrah, Cowper, Groom, Monash, Wannan, Forrest, Clare and Casey.
01:07In all of those seats, community independents are taking on, largely incumbent Coalition MPs.
01:13Now there is still some crossover with Climate 200.
01:16Four of those same campaigns have also received $55,000 in accelerated funds from the Climate
01:22200 group, and effectively the criteria is that the candidates need to be chosen by
01:27the community through a voices of process and run under the banner of the Cathy McGowan
01:32Community Independence Project.
01:34And Ros, at this election so far, there are 21 independents who are contesting seats under
01:40that banner.
01:41So Jane, a raft of independents were elected in 2022.
01:44Are we expecting a similar result at this year's election?
01:48Yeah, well in 2022, one in three Australians voted for minor parties, independents or Greens.
01:54It was a seismic shift away from the two major parties.
01:58Now this time around, while people running the community independent campaigns are really
02:02hopeful of sort of continuing that trend, they believe that the major parties are not
02:07necessarily representing the interests of communities, they're representing their bigger
02:11party interests.
02:13Most pollsters believe that there won't be as big a surge.
02:17There are some key seats that are being watched closely.
02:20One in Victoria, held by Liberal Dan Tien.
02:24It's been contested by community independent Alex Dyson at the past two elections.
02:28There'll be a rematch at this coming election, and it is now a marginal seat.
02:33Same goes for Cowper on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, where independent Kaz Heiss
02:37is again contesting the seat held by Nationals MP Pat Conaghan, again a Once Safe Coalition
02:44seat that's become marginal.
02:46And of course the three corner contest that's emerging in Bradfield on Sydney's North Shore.
02:52So they're the three where pollsters believe community candidates might be able to unseat
02:58the incumbent, but certainly the view is that the political landscape now is very different
03:03to what it was in 2022, and so perhaps there won't be as big a surge in terms of the independent vote.