Canberra's new political outfit, the Community Alliance Party, officially launches tonight with high hopes of holding the balance of power after the ACT election in October.
Community Alliance Party president Ric Hingee said the party planned to field 17 candidates across the three electorates.
Four candidates will be confirmed tonight public servant James Sizer (Brindabella), account manager Jane Tullis (Ginninderra), IT manager Norvan Vogt (Molonglo) and prison officer Mike Crowther (Ginninderra).
Mr Hingee said the party had about 300 members going into tonight's launch at Albert Hall. He acknowledged getting elected in the ACT was all about name recognition but believed the candidates had that.
''We decided to go with people who had strong links to the community they're recognised in the community. They are genuine, fresh individuals with new ideas and I'm hoping the electorate will be sophisticated enough to give them a try,'' he said.
Mr Hingee, who is not standing, has been a trenchant critic of the Stanhope Government since losing his home in the 2003 bushfires. Some candidates were involved in trying to save schools marked for closure.
However, the candidates say the Community Alliance Party is not a single-issue party, despite the Government's best efforts to paint it as such.
''We are a totally united front of disenfranchised community members across the whole ACT and across every issue in the ACT,'' Ms Tullis said.
The Community Alliance Party will campaign on ''improved services, lower rates and charges and open government''.
Mr Sizer said Canberra needed ''to have real people in local government rather than the usual clones''.
Mr Crowther said the electorate appeared disillusioned with the mainstream parties.
''I'm standing because I would like to see the territory taken back by the people who live here. They are poorly represented, they get steamrolled left, right and centre. Their schools get shut, their libraries get shut and their taxes go up, to boot. I think we can do better,'' Mr Crowther said.
''Jon Stanhope thinks he's got the dream team. We're the wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee team.''
Mr Vogt believed Canberra had a brighter future with a ''diverse, community-based party''.
''Because instead of playing big state politics, we can go back to the grassroots,'' he said.
Mr Hingee said the Community Alliance Party hoped to hold the balance of power at a ''minimum''.
''We want to take away the majority the Government has held, that has done nobody any good.
''When you have a majority, you don't have to communicate with people, you don't have to be transparent, you don't have to cooperate, you just tell people what they should have and the community has to live with that. We don't think that sort of government should be in Canberra.''
The Community Alliance Party launch is tonight at 7.30pm at Albert Hall.