What is a “Voices of” or “Voices for” group about?
(“Voices of” and “Voices for” groups are not related to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.)
from wikipedia (here)
“The Voices for or Voices of groups are a series of loosely related political community engagement groups in Australia. Some of the groups have endorsed candidates to run as candidates in federal elections“
“Voices groups are locally organised groups channelling growing dissatisfaction with traditional political parties that are not representative of their electorates. The first “Voices” group was founded in the electorate of Indi in 2012 around an identified need for greater democratic engagement at the community level. As of 3 December 2021 there are 38 active Voices groups across 35 electorates in Australia.
Some of the groups are seeking and endorsing a candidate. Most avoid directing their preferences through the use of a how-to-vote card. Some groups are focused on participatory democracy, so are strictly non-partisan and are not seeking or endorsing a candidate.”
What does Voices for Indi say?
Voices for Indi (V4i) followed a process (now put down in a book “The Indi Way“). From the V4i website (here)
“V4i openly shares many of the resources that were developed for Indi, but each community is encouraged to explore the particular circumstances and issues of their own electorate to help inform and strengthen any political action.
Grass roots community engagement and agreed core values were, and remain, fundamental to what has been achieved in Indi. Elements of the V4i model have indeed been successfully adopted in other communities with community concern regarding the existing standard of political representation being the common starting point.
Voices for Indi would like to emphasise that the use of ‘Voices for’ by other groups does not indicate a formal link with, or endorsement by, V4i. There is no franchise in place and any group using the ‘Voices for’ tag has chosen to do so quite separately to V4i. We are not a political party – we are seeking improved community engagement and real representation. In Indi’s case, genuine and effective community engagement has informed a new way of doing politics resulting in four terms of Independent representation. Higher levels of participation in democratic processes provides a benefit in any electorate which may at times be enhanced by the election of an independent but should also improve standards of representation for party candidates.
V4i’s core values, as determined by a large number of supporters in Indi, are fundamental to what is now known as the “Indi Way”. We therefore do not offer endorsements for any other ‘Voices for’ group, only encouragement to mobilise their local community to actively participate in democracy to demand the standard of representation consistent with their agreed collective values.“
Voices of Dickson
In the years since Voices from Indi, “Voices of” and “Voices for” groups have formed around the country. Voices of Groom is one example of a Queensland Voices group. There are now a number active in Queensland.
This is the pathway Voices of Dickson are endevouring to follow. We are seperate to other “Voices of” groups and from all political parties. Voices of Dickson are grassroots, putting community engagement and community representation foremost. We have members who have left political parties to support this group. That doesn’t mean our group has any connection or affiliation whatsoever to any political party or group. Together we are building a stronger community to ensure our elected representatives stand up for our values and interests.
Currently we are undertaking a large community listening campaign. It is a survey and kitchen table conversations. We are asking people for their views about what they want for their community. You can fill in our survey here. Our survey is to determine the views of Dicskon Residents. Responses from people who do not live in Dickson will not inform our work when the survey concludes.