Community Alliance Party

Mike Crowther was born in Sydney's outer west in 1956.  He attended both the Catholic and State school systems, leaving school at age fifteen to work in Sydney's sprawling factory zone.  In 1981 he obtained his HSC after attending evening college and was accepted into Macquarie University where for the next three years he studied Behavioural Science.  He was unable to complete his studies having accepted a demanding role of long term foster parent for severely abused children.  In 1991, he became a Prison Officer a role he has excelled in.  His seventeen-year career has seen him deployed in a variety of institutions as well as small specialised units. He is a recipient of the Australian National Medal, the NSW Corrective Services Medal and a Commissioner's Citation presented for his work as a senior training officer. Mike moved to Canberra in 1996 after meeting and marrying Chandra, a local artisan.  They have one child. 

Prior to moving here, Mike had been a frequent visitor to Canberra and noted the deterioration in services following the imposition of self government.  After making Canberra his home, he became aware of some of the scandalous actions of various local authorities, but like most residents, was content to simply 'overlook'  poor local government.  However in 2006, he found himself outraged by the Government's approach to what it termed 'consultation' over proposed school closures.  The process was a good lesson for him in the way things get done in this town. The following year, the sight of a small child pushing against the just-locked door of his closed school seemed to symbolise for him all that was rotten in local government. Mike resolved to stand up for that child and others like them.

Mike's personal motto is "When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem resembles a nail." Subsequently, Mike has a range of skills honed by managing some of the most difficult people society can throw up. He intends to use these to ensure there will be genuine consultation with Canberra's owners (it's people), transparency of process (reports and information will be owned by the public, not the Government) and genuine accountability for Government actions, as opposed to the spin, prevarication and bullying tactics that are currently in use.