In about six months, the Federal government will start looking for a good time to call an election.

That's not inside knowledge – it's merely based on what the numbers say. First term governments don't go the full three years. Instead, they watch and wait, looking for an opportunity to extend their period in power.

"There is a good chance the election will be next year," says Shaun Wilson, political sociologist at Macquarie University in Sydney.

The worst performed result, the first election Julia Gillard faced as Prime Minister, was the only first term government he can recall which went close to three years. The rest have been much shorter, a couple of years at best. And as soon as the government starts to think about the date its members become even more cautious, even more callow, even more reluctant to take the risks required to make good government.

Mr Wilson says governments don't like to leave elections until late in the cycle because "they find themselves hemmed in by policy circumstance". That's code for the politics of the zeitgeist screwing politicians over.

Nick Economou, senior lecturer in politics at Monash, says it would be tougher for Mr Abbott to do it because it would mean the election would be out of sync with the half Senate – and the last time that happened was in 1972. He doubts the Prime Minister would be prepared to do that.

But it's not inconceivable and that's why your time really does start now. This is the moment when you can make change or at least contribute to the conversation. It's the phase of governing when our representatives are open to ideas. What will make them re-electable? What counts as a big question or as something they believe matters to the electorate. Health, of course, is clear. Any changes there will do unutterable damage to Australians – each of us.

So much of what led this government to say we had a health emergency has been proven to be lies, all of them, including the line Joe Hockey has tattooed on his inner thigh – that we visit the GP 11 times a year.

I declare a vested interest in protecting access to higher education – I teach in a university. I have another interest – I was first in my family to get a degree. (The jobs I went on to get would not have been possible without a degree. Plus, there is no way my husband's family would ever have countenanced him not doing a degree so I would never have met him. So, double win, good jobs, lovely spouse.)

Internal polling has shown both parties how much Australians value that ease of access. The Liberal Party may, of course, be more interested in ensuring that elites continue to be elite, while the Labor Party killed off free education. So, both evil. And please don't be fooled by opinion polls – there are no elections being held this week, so the questions have no import and no value. What counts is what happens when we next vote – sometime from July next year. You have to convince them with more than polls.

This is the time when we must genuinely interact with our politicians – even if we find them deceitful and smug. Even, as Peter Brent, psephologist, columnist and blogger says, we know that politicians "spend their lives misrepresenting things".

They are listening. Which is why it's important that we start talking to them now and not to each other. I was rapt to be asked to speak at ANU last week for Fair Go for Canberra – a group of groups, who knew what they wanted from a government. They spoke of raised higher education fees, of protecting our universal health care system; of defending our climate from polluters; of ensuring our most vulnerable should be well cared for. These are people whose values I admire and share.

One excellent speaker, Susan Helyar from ACTCOSS, talked about the need for a culture of reciprocity – and what she meant was respectful collaboration within groups of like-minded people.

That's key. We the people need to decide what we want – but we also have to have serious conversations with our local members. Some of those are very lucky. They were newly elected in 2013 and will benefit from the sophomore effect (a good personal following built up straight after the election). It's one of the reasons why, even when a swing happens, there is no change in government.

But there is one way to ensure loyal voters – and that's having those hard words. If your local member isn't available, that's the time to start campaigning against them. Make them feel like newcomers all over again. Make them earn your vote.

The only way they will all know how we really feel is if we talk to them. They live in a bubble. Your job is to burst it.

Twitter @jennaprice or send polite emails to jenna_p@bigpond.net.au.