Independents running in ACT elections are nothing new. Every four years, candidates without the backing or discipline of a party put themselves forward as potential members of the Legislative Assembly.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Most have very little chance of getting elected. They come, in many cases, with the best of intentions but bring no profile or significant supporter base. Hare-Clark electoral politics is a tough environment. For all their effort, they are often left with little to show for it.
No doubt the election of David Pocock as an independent senator for the ACT in 2022 has given new hope to potentially political operators who see something beyond the Assembly's three-party stranglehold.
A flurry of announcements have marked the start of the political year and the de facto start of the 2024 election campaign.
The most serious effort, so far, appears to be that launched by the group calling itself Independents for Canberra.
Run by Clare Carnell and Thomas Emerson, the group is so far without candidates or policies. It has positioned itself as an umbrella organisation under which independent candidates, backed by their communities, can operate their campaigns.
Candidates would be free to hold their own views on policy and no puppet-master will determine how those people, if elected, would make their minds up on who should be Chief Minister after October 19.
What those looking for independent candidates have so far failed to grasp, it seems, is that being an independent candidate is not an ideological position in itself.
Their reluctance to nail political colours to their masts - seen most clearly in the way they handle the question of policies - hints at a political naivety.
Independents for Canberra indicated at a town hall they held on Sunday they would have more to say by the middle of the year about their candidate selections.
The lack of candidates and policies to match the boldness of the group's launch shows they have yet to identify a clear reason for change within the Legislative Assembly.
The current administration is not without its problems, but it has delivered a solid and generally competent government under the leadership of Chief Minister Andrew Barr.
![Thomas Emerson and Clare Carnell out the front of the Legislative Assembly. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Thomas Emerson and Clare Carnell out the front of the Legislative Assembly. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/rJkJNFPcdBkDQKqtkgHSjA/3aa15cd4-0b00-4fed-975e-56ee92a55959.jpg/r0_494_7939_4957_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The success of independents at the May 2022 federal election is a result of the disregard in which the Coalition was held.
To vote independent was to tell the Coalition government its time was up.
This same level of opprobrium has not been attached to the present ACT government, which Mr Barr has led for more than nine years.
There are instead a series of petty frustrations: long grass, cracked footpaths, poor access to members of the Assembly and ministers. The convenors of Independents for Canberra highlighted these and more at their Sunday town hall meeting.
The question independent candidates need to grasp is whether the Canberra public is ready to take a risk on an untested grouping of individuals - who may or may not continue working together after the election, if they gain seats - and thereby risk removing a government which has a track record of solid and reliable performance.
October 19 is still 249 days away. The increased attention now on independent candidates means people considering a tilt will face increased public scrutiny. And rightly so.
However, while the intentions of independent candidates are likely commendable, they will discover the discipline of party politics has developed for a reason.
Collectively and alone, they face a rocky and unmarked path ahead.