The 2016 federal election saw nearly a quarter of Australians vote for candidates outside the major parties.
As Insight looks at why voters are increasingly turning to minority political representatives, how achievable is it to form your own minor party?
The practicalities
You'll first need to consider: are your values, policies and personality popular enough to be supported by 500 enrolled voters? Congratulations, according to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, you are eligible to register a non-parliamentary party. You will, of course, have to get those 500 voters to join your party as members.
This begs the question, what is a parliamentary party? If you've already had the pleasure of working at Parliament House as an elected representative, you won't need to convince those 500 supporters to jump on board your personal political train. Proceed straight to the next step.
Choose a party name, abbreviation and logo. Bullet Train For Australia, Online Direct Democracy – (Empowering the People!), Pirate Party Australia, and Smokers Rights Party are already taken. It cannot be more than 6 words long, or similar to an existing name.
There are also specific rules around the creation of logos: regretfully it cannot be a self-portrait (or of any other person), contain obscenities, or be too similar to existing logos. It also cannot bear the word, "independent".
Once you've run that by your first 500 members, you should consider asking them for a one dollar donation. This will save you much time and expense when it comes to registering your new party, which comes with a $500 price tag. You should also consider paying it yourself, as you will most likely need investments from those members come campaign time, where your (probably) limited resources will make their time highly valuable.
Now to run for a seat, you’ll have to get yourself nominated. Because you’ve formed a minor party, you won’t need 100 people in your chosen electorate to endorse you. You will still have to fork out up to $2000 for a deposit. At this time you can officially wail in despair at how small your party coffers are compared to the major parties. Unless you are Clive Palmer, taking another stab at politics.
In positive news, if you are elected or your budding new minor party (although only in the Senate) wins at least 4 per cent of formal first preference votes, you get the deposit back. This could be put towards accommodation in Canberra.
The policies
There are no formal procedures for policy development, other than creating the aforementioned part constitution.
However, the recent election of 14 minor party and independent candidates appears to suggest highly specific, highly emotive and slightly/highly controversial policies win votes.
The Nick Xenophon Team has made predatory gambling a major policy interest; Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party is particularly interested in Royal Commissions, believing Islam and the corruption of climate science to be most in need of scrutiny; Derryn Hinch's Justice Party has campaigned for a public register of convicted sex offenders and domestic violence law reform; the Jacqui Lambie Network has taken up issues around halal food certifications and veteran welfare.
In this week's episode of Insight, many minor party voters discussed how personal experiences with these issues persuaded them to vote for particular candidates.
Irene Trewarne was an immigrant from Hungary and her experiences of assimilating into Australian culture on arrival influenced her vote for One Nation.
"Migrants these days seem to segregate themselves way more than we did," she says. "My parents never let us speak Hungarian in public."
Marnie Gray voted for Derryn Hinch after meeting him in person, in her home town of Wangaratta. The small rural town saw the murder of a woman and a young girl in the space of a couple of months, which she was deeply affected by. She too was a victim of domestic violence, and found Hinch to be a man of conviction.
Lyn Cleaver's experiences with her disabled son, who has severe epilepsy, lead her to vote for the Jacqui Lambie Network. Lyn has been using medicinal cannabis to help treat her son, but felt like the issue had been abandoned by the major parties, particularly by her previous party of choice, the Liberals. On speaking with Jacqui Lambie, she found her to be "open and honest and we got a real sense from her that she would move forward with us on this."
The campaign
From the outset, distinguish yourself from the major parties. Much of the turn towards minor parties has been off the back of dissatisfaction with the major parties' behaviour in government, according to the Insight audience.
“It started on the 14th of September last year, Jenny, the day that Malcolm Turnbull stabbed Tony Abbott in the back," says Liberal-turned-One Nation voter Harriet Galagher. "I was absolutely horrified that our conservative party would behave in this way.”
Bill Hunt was also unimpressed by the Coalition's behaviour in parliament. "They sit there with a bloody look of absolute disdain, they were so disruptive, they were so arrogant in opposition," he tells Insight. "They weren't constructive, all the self restraint of an under ten year old football team, you know and I was really annoyed with that ... They didn't have any respect for [Julia Gillard]."
Nick Xenophon voter Viki Hannah was not enamoured by any of the major parties. “I think they behave like children but that’s what I expect from them and this isn’t new," she says.
You should also think about gathering a few more candidates to your cause, if viable. Exposure and potential power (particularly in the Senate) will be increased, as well as campaign funding - some minor parties enforce a salary contribution from sitting MPs.
Members of the Nick Xenophon Team, the former independent candidate's new minor party. Source: AFP
On that topic, if reasonably successful in the election, the election funding rules state that winning 4 per cent of the first preference votes in the division or state/territory contested makes you eligible for electoral funding. This means you are reimbursed some money for all the votes you receive, at a current rate of about $2.60 per vote.
With these things in mind, it might be possible to hire some staff. A campaign director is a good starting point. If Grand Designs has taught us anything, it is that appointing yourself project manager is often a disastrous decision.
They should be able to help set up meetings with potential donors, who will be critical in ensuring the campaign is well-funded.
On the campaign trail, appearing approachable and giving sense of being ‘plucked from everyday Australia’ is also important, with many minor party voters feeling ignored by major party candidates.
“I can stand in front of someone for ten seconds and really feel something off one person and the next person you can go, they're definitely not interested in what I've got to say,” says Rod Caddies, a recent One Nation voter. “And that's what I feel with a lot of politicians in … the main parties."
"You know some of the things [Pauline Hanson] says are quite controversial and you don't have to agree with everything a politician says to still want to follow them, but you can want to follow them because of the passion they've got," he says.
Commitment and making personal sacrifices is essential.
“Derryn Hinch was prepared to put his liberty on the line by going to jail and I think that’s the kind of commitment that we don’t see in mainstream leaders," Irene Trewarne tells Insight's Jenny Brockie.
Know how to eat a sausage sandwich properly, says guest Caileb Eder, an Indigenous man who voted for One Nation. He was highly unimpressed to see a major politician approaching the classic snack incorrectly. It shows "he sort of doesn't do Australian things often," he says. "He doesn't sort of partake in the things that we consider Australian, like barbecues and things like that."
“I’m voting for whoever seems more authentic and puts the people first," continues Caileb. "Whether that be a minor or major party is indifferent.”
Bill Shorten eats a sausage sandwich at Strathfield North Public School polling booth as part of the 2016 Election Day. Source: AAP
Give voters a sense that their vote is going somewhere. To convince voters to leave the safety of the major parties can be a difficult task, but the feeling of being heard and considered was a significant reason many guests switched their votes.
“It was an emotional decision … I feel my vote has mattered for the first time." says Irene.
Finally, viewing of this week's Insight is essential, in which a studio full of voters discuss for an entire hour why they've turned away from the major parties. Catch up online now:
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