Like Canberra has become the first minor party to announce a team of candidates for the October ACT election, with 10 candidates contesting the five seats in an election rife with minor parties and independents.
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Like Canberra, formerly the Bullet Train for Canberra Party, has stood in ACT and Senate elections since 2012, when it stood six candidates in the ACT election and on four per cent of the vote, a few hundred votes behind the Australian Motorist Party.
This year, the party will stand two candidates in each of the five electorates, among them artists, uni students, and a tradie. The party has released a suite of policies which appear to place it left of centre, but co-founder Tim Bohm says the party is neither left nor right, and is focused instead on common sense and transparency.
Mr Bohm, who has a knack of publicity, wants each Canberran to be forgiven on free parking ticket each year in recognition that "nobody is perfect and sometimes things happen out of your control".
On Tuesday, the party unveils its candidates, who Mr Bohm says will dress in chemical suits or lab coats in a visual symbol of the need for an ACT corruption commission. On hand will be "ICAC spray and wipe" and mascot "Kambah the corruption watchdog".
Most of the minor parties and independents are pushing for an ICAC, with the ACT the only jurisdiction other than the Northern Territory without such a body. In the Northern Territory, it is among Labor's promises for this weekend's election, but in Canberra both Labor and Liberal are resisting the move.
Mr Bohm said if elected, any big decisions would be taken to the party membership, with numbers at about 120 and growing. That would include whether to support Labor or Liberal to form government. Mr Bohm acknowledged that could result in people joining so they could vote on particular issues, given the party has no membership fee and no minimum membership time before someone can vote. But the scenario did not concern him.
"If we get the balance of power and 1000 people sign up and they're all Canberrans it's great, it would be a good problem to have," he said. "Obviously we know it's going to be tough to win a seat, but we want to highlight the lack of common sense out of our political parties at the moment. We want to being a few things into the spotlight."
He cited the self-interest of the major parties. His party would seek to reverse the 2014 decision to increase public funding to parties from $2 a vote to $8 a vote, an amount many times other jurisdictions.
Like Canberra wants to abolish the post of commissioner for international engagement, recently created by Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who appointed political rival Liberal Brendan Smyth to the job.
It wants a review into how the Westside Container Village was established "and how it can be saved or shutdown". It says the tram is "going to happen" but there must be an investigation "of the whole process", including ensuring "the community isn't ripped off" during construction.
It wants annual prizes in science, technology and the arts, each worth $500,000, and it supports Labor's agenda on renewable energy.
"Our strategy is to let people know that we're out there and we're not like the others. They don't have to vote Labor and Liberal," Mr Bohm said.
The candidates are:
- Ginninderra: Sam Huggins, electrician, of Watson; and Richard Harriss, construction tradesman, of Forde.
- Kurrajong: Maryann Mussared, artist, of Yarralumla; Chris Bucknell, law student, of Campbell.
- Brindabella: Richard Tuffin, photographer, of Tuggeranong; Tim Friel, physics student, of Hackett.
- Murrumbidgee: Shelley Dickerson, goldsmith, of Wright; Rod Vickers, IT consultant, of Garran.
- Yerrabi: Casey Heffernan, commerce student, of Ainslie, Tim Bohm, owns advertising and graphic design business, of Watson.
