The Mercury Editorial on Thursday, 29 September, laments the lack of contests for Mayor in several municipalities. Of course, we all want more choice, but under the present system, there are valid reasons why people do not put their hand up for Mayor, or as a Councillor.
It is often claimed, even quoted in the Editorial, that local government is connected to the people like no other form of government. It is “grassroots democracy in action”. But is that true? How often do we see our elected councillors? What effort do they make to connect with the people?
Interested citizens form community associations, spending countless hours trying to improve the amenity of their local area. Decisions are then taken by Council that directly negate that work, as if ‘big brother’ knows best.
There is a reason for this disconnect to the citizenry. Our voting system, the technically superb Hare-Clark system, delivers ‘name’ candidates to Councils. Hard-working, low-profile candidates have no chance in this age of celebrity. A radio personality, former government member, or a TV personality, does not need to campaign. Kylie Minogue or Mickey Mouse would be a shoe-in’. Councillors are elected on their name or face recognition. There is no scrutiny of their ideas, or lack of them.
Good candidates do stand, but most are discouraged after their first try because the ‘name recognition’ of existing councillors makes it all but impossible to displace them. The advantages of incumbency are numerous, not least the ability to use proposed council projects as their own policies. These are the reasons we see the same faces around council tables for decades. A real democracy would make it possible to bring new faces, with fresh ideas, to councils.
The cynicism of the public is another barrier. Standing for public office should be seen as a worthy ambition, but disenchantment with politicians at all levels encourages a negative attitude that candidates stand only for their self-interest. There are good people offering their candidacy. They desere our full support.
In a media age, the cost of a campaign is considerable, creating another barrier for independent, community-minded candidates. Political parties have recently entered the local government scene in Tasmania. Party candidates receive support, both financial and practical, that gives them a great advantage over the independents. Party candidates have a volunteer base for letter-boxing and posting of signs, and a professional organisation for media/PR opportunities, as well as strategic advice. Independent candidates do all of this themselves, while footing the bill for the privilege.
We should be careful what we wish for with Party-backed candidates. Success by one Party will encourage others to field candidates. We have seen this already, with the Labor Party endorsing candidates in Hobart and Glenorchy to match the Greens. Party-dominated Councils are rife on the mainland. Their performance is poor. Councillors represent their party interests, rather than the public interest. Unruly Council meetings and back-room deals are normal behaviour. At present, 152 councils in NSW are under investigation for corruption. We don’t have that problem in Tasmania – yet!
The ageing of councils (and candidates) concerns many people. It is natural that, as we live longer, people will want to contribute longer. Yet, we need to consider why we aren’t attracting younger candidates (except party members with higher ambitions). It was sad to see a young candidate excluded because of a bureaucratic rule. He posted his nomination on time – surely that is enough. There are too many rules, and they create barriers to make the system impenetrable by normal thinking humans. Why, for instance, does every advertisement need to carry the name and address of the person authorising the advertisement. Surely the ‘authoriser’ could be registered by the the Electoral commission. That would save candidates considerable money spent on useless authorisations, that serve little purpose. It is another barrier to independent, less well-off candidates, who foot the bill for this nonsense. Sometimes the authorisation costs more than the message!
Councils have meetings – interminable, boring meetings. Why would a young person want to subject themselves to that purgatory, when all of their other communication is done on-line, by phone, text or Facebook. Councils must bring themselves into the 21st century to engage with their younger citizens. Future civic leaders are out there; Councils need to find ways to engage with them.
The way forward. There is a solution to all of these problems. The voting system; the name-recognition problem; the party politics; the cost of campaigning; the ageing of Councillors; and the rebuilding of democracy.
Our society has lost its focus on grass-roots democracy. We no longer know our elected representatives. I believe we should look at a multi-level democracy. Neighbourhoods of about 500 residents would elect one of their number, who is already working in a community group of some sort – be it Progress Association, Little Athletics, or Landcare (or any other) – to be their representative. S/he would meet with other elected representatives of other neighbourhoods to form a suburb residents group, of around 5000 people. Councillors would be drawn from that group. In this way, only people who are already working in their community would be elected, and only people with a broader focus would be elected to the higher level. Hare-Clark would work well at this level, because candidates would be well-known in their local areas.
If and when Council amalgamations take place, then the system would simply utilise another tier to accommodate the additional numbers. A city of 200000 (Greater Hobart) would elect its Council by the same method as the current small (50000) Hobart Council. It would make the transition to fewer Councils easier.
Democracy is fragile. We need to ensure the system makes it fair for everyone, and that our representatives are truly ‘of the people, for the people’.
Authorised by Leo Foley, 31 Brushy Creek Rd, Lenah Valley, Tas
