On the 3rd of October I did my first round of door knocking in Acton and Cooee. I met a lot of people that were willing to chat, and only a few polite ‘thanks for stopping in’.
I have to say door knocking was fun. Meeting a lot of new people and learning about their lives, talking through their questions, and finding the common themes. But the standout thing about door knocking was the friendliness of people.
Who I Met:
All sorts.
Some had recently immigrated (and thought they couldn’t vote in local elections. I let them know it’s for all residents).
I spoke to a mum whose son had just turned 18 and looking forward to voting.
There was a retiree that had retired 3 times from construction and is now off to the Maldive with his wife.
I heard about the delays and hurdles the Burnie Bowls Club faced.
And I met a lovely Burnie Councillor from the 1990’s, named Elizabeth.
Their Questions and Conversations:
A lot were covered in the Candidate forums at the Burnie Arts Centre and Burnie RLS. Though not everyone can attend these because life is busy, so having the opportunity to have a 1 on 1 chat was excellent. It let the conversations wander between topics, with ideas and experiences flowing backwards and forwards.
Mostly, though, it let people explain why a question was important to them. How it affected their time out in the community. What a ‘fix’ would look like. And their understanding of what Burnie Council should or could do to help.
The Themes:
Again, a lot are already known: infighting, parking, rates going up, empty shops in the CBD, tourism, the French Fries.
But the theme that really stood out was this: I was the first candidate or councillor to visit them.
From my own experiences, I have been visited once, by Casey Hiscutt, and it was at election time.
It’s a real shame because of everything I mentioned above, and the impact made at a personal level (I mean I still remember Casey), and mostly because it’s only at election time (pot, kettle, I know). This is why, if elected, I want to start a monthly ‘thing’ where the community can meet Councillors and Council executives. It doesn’t have to be a big fan fair, something like a gazebo at the foreshore, a stale at a market, or even an evening at one of the many town halls spread across the Burnie Council municipality. Each month can be a couple of different Councillors or Council executives, with a simple set up, maybe with a cuppa or a sausage sizzle, and talk Councillor to Community.
And if not elected, I’ll put a question in via the Question Time form (https://www.burnie.tas.gov.au/Council/Council-Meetings/Public-Question-Time) so it can be discussed anyway.
The Big Takeaway:
All in all I found door knocking to be great way to meet the people I hope to represent, and it made me think: what could happen if all Councillors met with people 1 on 1 more frequently than election time.