Community Alliance Party

Address to the official launch of the Community Alliance Party
Thursday June 12th, 2008
Albert Hall

Why we need a new community Party

DR JENNY STEWART

About a year ago, I wrote an article for the Canberra Times in which I called for a new political party in the ACT, one that would reflect, not a Liberal or Labor or Green ideology, but the needs and wishes of the people of Canberra.

I wrote that majority rule had been bad for ACT Labor - it had become arrogant and out of touch, and unable or unwilling to provide the sort of leadership that the Territory's public services so desperately needed.  No one seemed to have a sure grasp of the Territory's finances. The administration was so fragmented, that often no one seemed to be in charge.

At the time, I did not think a new Canberra-based party could ever come into existence. But I reckoned without the energy and determination and vision of the remarkable people, headed by Ric Hingee, who have created the Community Alliance Party.

I also reckoned without the disastrous decision-making of the Stanhope government, which over the past year, has produced a spontaneous upsurge of community outrage, as people have come to realise that much of our city's splendid heritage has become compromised - not just in planning, but in health, education and public housing too.

From Hall to Tharwa, there have been outbreaks of unrest, expressions of concern.  What was going on? In my own part of Canberra, the Woden Valley, I noticed unwelcome changes. It seemed that we were getting all the development in our Master Plan, but few of the community facilities. Questions reverberated around meetings of the Woden Valley Community Council - what was happening about Phillip Oval, the pool, the ice-skating rink? Why couldn't we park any more? It was difficult to get clear answers.

It's true that at self-government, we were saddled with a system that was almost guaranteed not to work well. The Assembly was too small for the rigidities of Westminster government. But the problems have been compounded since, because we have not had a politics that enabled us to use the best that was in us. The Assembly has had some good people, but it has also had some who were less than inspiring, trading on outdated party identities. The conventional parties have not served us well.

The candidates that the new party are putting forward are a breath of fresh air. I was so impressed by their experience, their realism and their profound belief in the power of community. And what a community! Time and time again, I have been struck by the wealth of knowledge that we have here in Canberra. And time and time again, I have been struck by the foolishness of politicians and advisors who have spurned that knowledge. That has to change.

There are huge challenges ahead for the new party. But policy positions are coming together. And they are coming together from the heart of our society, not from doctrinal positions. They emphasise that most elusive of qualities - good, old-fashioned common sense. And Canberra voters are beginning to sit up and take notice.  They want pleasant neighbourhoods, good services, creative thinking about the future, jobs for their kids, not sterile political point-scoring. They want decisions made in clear and transparent ways, and they want to be consulted about those decisions. All these things the Community Alliance Party is pledged to deliver.

Whether the new party succeeds or not depends upon you people here, and even more than that, upon the people beyond these walls, the mass of ACT voters.

I hope the wider community will give this mob a go. The sceptics will point to a lack of political experience and to a diversity of backgrounds among the candidates - but both are points in their favour. Political experience can be a liability when all it has taught is cynicism. We need people in the assembly whose backgrounds include volunteer work and work in small business, as well as in the public sector, people with a real feel for Canberra's citizens and their families. The sceptics should remember that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

Ours is a unique city, and it needs a different kind of politics. Labor, Liberal and Greens all have their place, but now is the right time to put a new factor into the mix. That factor is the Community Alliance Party. May it grow and prosper, and give this city the new style of governance it so sorely needs.