Six weeks in politics- what I learnt about privilege, community and participation.

Six weeks ago, I received a call asking if I would be interested in running as a candidate for the Legalise Cannabis Party in the 2025 May Federal Election. I have never aspired to be a politician. However, I have always been passionate about standing for my beliefs. Having worked in our community sector for over twenty years, with a majority of this in the alcohol and other drug sector, evidence-based drug reform is something I wholeheartedly believe in.

A huge influencer in my decision to run as a candidate was understanding how the party operates in practice. Rachel Payne, our elected State upper house representative, is a friend and mentor. Following her election in 2022, I saw her first reading in Parliament. Subsequently, I saw her bravery and dedication in standing up for what is essential to our community in Parliament. I knew first-hand that although the parties' policies were specific to legalising and regulating cannabis, their values run deeper and are applied when debating and advocating for a broad range of policies. Who wouldn’t want to be aligned with a party with values-based politics!!

I have forever been known as someone who takes on a lot. In addition to running my own business, I was scheduled to have surgery in mid-April and, of course, parent my houseful of adolescents!! After understanding that campaigning depends on how much candidates want and can give, I decided to see what it was all about.

My experience was joyful and despairing. Some days, I felt very little hope for humanity's future; on other days, I was filled with hope. Overall, it was a positive experience, made this way by the mentoring and support I received from Rachel, the volunteers who offered their time, and my friends and family, who flooded me with love and support.

I write to process things; however, sharing my experiences with others is beneficial in bringing more attention to how politics plays out in our community. In reflecting, I took several key things away from the last six weeks.

Wealth in politics

There is a tremendous amount of money spent on political campaigns. As a grassroots political party with no major donors, the LCP does not have much campaign funding. It truly is a grassroots initiative.

Not only can the expense of campaigning be seen plastered across the community during an election campaign, but it also impacts the Candidates and their capacity to campaign. If you can afford not to work, Candidates can be more present and reach more of the community.

This is a huge barrier for people in our community who would be amazing advocates in Parliament. However, they cannot afford to spend weeks on the campaign trail or generate any campaign materials.

Despite what has become the norm in modern political campaigns, the people we are meant to represent are appalled by the amount of waste and money spent on campaigning. Ironic, huh?

Privilege  

Candidates and their volunteers are in a privileged position to influence our community. This can be very positive when the motivations are to bring unity and understanding to our community. However, I have also witnessed volunteers who abused this privilege to drive division and spread misinformation. There is very little recourse for this behaviour despite the ongoing harm it can cause.

Candidates and volunteers should be expected to sign a code of conduct when campaigning, at a minimum, one that keeps them accountable to facts and a base level of behaviour. Currently, it is entirely unregulated, which is very dangerous.

Civic literacy

I am passionate about increasing the community’s understanding of politics. I had very little knowledge of how the system works and why every vote matters. Only when I was in a Government Relations role did I start to educate myself.

My experience has shown me that this is a priority. I read an article recently stating that civic literacy is at its lowest level ever in mainstream schools. We must make learning about politics essential, engaging, and fun for young people and our community.

Instead of running Candidate debates that look like schoolyard arguing, how about our stakeholders and media run education sessions on politics and policy? We should move away from popularity contests and mudslinging and create environments where our community can decide on their vote.

Innovation

Political campaigning is nothing new; we have not moved with the times. Even independents and minor parties have fallen victim to doing things the way they have always been done, the way the major parties do them. It is not surprising that the community is tired of it. I am an empath, so I am pretty good at reading people, and I can tell you that most people did not want How to Vote Cards thrust at them while running the gauntlet for the polling line!

Why do we insist on this?

If I had my time again, I would set up a table and invite people to come to me to hear about our party and what we stand for. I thought some beats and treats until I was informed the treats could be considered bribery!!

In whatever form, I urge candidates and their parties to think differently about how they connect with voters at polling places. Let’s bring innovation and creativity, not just keep doing something as it has always been done, just because everyone does it!

Stigma and discrimination

As someone who is a strong advocate for drug and law reform in our community, I was disheartened to hear such strong and misinformed opinions around decriminalisation. The war on drugs and tough on crime rhetoric from the Government and communicated via mass media has led to tunnel vision and strong, misinformed opinions.

As a community member, I could engage people in conversations about these issues and have a balanced discussion. As soon as I became aligned with a political party, many of these conversations were quickly shut down as if I were no longer communicating common sense and evidence but had an ulterior motive. Even though I campaigned for six weeks, my opinions have not changed for decades, nor will they change in the future; this is called integrity. It is a shame that politics impedes our ability to engage our community in nuanced discussions and debates, given that politicians are ideally placed to drive much-needed reforms.

Core values versus policy platforms.

The number of times I was asked about our other policies indicates the misunderstanding of politics across our community. Elected members are there to represent their communities, and while parties have positions on significant issues, it is the party's values that we should be voting for.

No individual party will present a policy that ‘fixes’ the cost of living or housing crisis. These are wicked problems that require innovative solutions that extend beyond a straightforward policy.

It will take a brave Government to bring all sides of politics together to generate sustainable solutions for the world today. Unfortunately, the cyclic nature of elections means the party in power has no time to create long-term, sustainable change through policy reform. Band-aid solutions win votes. It is up to us as a community to move away from blame and give those we elect the time to build and test solutions that will make a difference.

Politics has so much division; most of the narrative is spent tearing each other down. Only when this energy is put into unifying those making decisions will we see and feel change.

This might be possible if the community elected politicians based on their values and a commitment to bringing these to the table.

Maybe we should start with integrity and put some safeguards in place at the highest levels to minimise politicians' personal benefit from their decision-making in Parliament. This is just an idea.

Hope and healing.

I heard many stories of hope whilst out in the community.

Individuals who had experienced life-changing benefits from medicinal cannabis.

Individuals who had supported family and friends to access this life-changing medicine.

Supporters of reform who shared their knowledge and experience around other jurisdictions that had legalised cannabis.

Community members who were brave enough to address misinformation and discrimination spoken by other party volunteers in the community.

Messages of thank you from people in the community who the criminalisation of cannabis had deeply impacted.

Watching the bravery of an elected member of parliament addressing misinformation through kindness, understanding, facts and evidence.

I am fortunate to have these experiences of hope because the political world can be harsh.

I do not regret my experience. It has deepened my knowledge on so many levels. I met some fabulous people who shared their experiences and gave their time and support to a cause that meant something to them personally. I was showered with love and support from my community, even my Dad over in Tasmania, who would have proudly worn a Legalise Cannabis t-shirt if I had gotten the chance to get one to him!

My experience has driven my passion to create more understanding of politics in our community, to make it accessible, engaging, and meaningful. I have learnt that to do this, I cannot be in politics. Experiences of corruption and poor politics deeply wound society. Many of the community are disenfranchised and distrust the people elected to serve us. We need to shift this. We must highlight elected members who brave the public arena and consistently stand for their community and values. They are there.

I will continue to advocate for sensible, evidence-based policy reform and enable others to do so. As I have said previously, I am an enabler. Despite my brief appearance in the public eye, I look forward to continuing to be an inside agitator and driving change from the inside.

Thank you again to all of the supporters and to the challengers who always make me pause to consider and reflect on my beliefs. I come out of this stronger and more informed, and for that, I will be forever grateful.