Independent candidate for Canberra, Claire Miles, wants a louder voice for the capital in the Federal Parliament. Photo: Region.
Since the 2022 federal election, there’s been a renewed focus on independent candidates, sparked by the success of the Teals across the nation.
The unseating of incumbent members of both houses of parliament in that election, and the subsequent frustration of the agendas of the major parties, has resulted in a more vigorous approach to independent candidates this time round.
More scrutiny, more aggro and more taking them seriously.
Fair enough. That’s politics and politics is a tough game.
But how has it been playing out in the ACT?
With David Pocock’s election to the Senate in 2022, Canberra was no longer purely the domain of the major parties.
He unseated a Liberal and he rattled Labor.
Senator Pocock is on track to comfortably retain his seat at this election – so much so that Labor’s Katy Gallagher has ruminated out loud about the likelihood of him returning the ACT’s highest Senate vote.
But what about the Lower House?
The three House of Representatives electorates in the ACT are all safe Labor seats.
Canberra is a ‘Labour town’, which makes it difficult for a minor party or independent to break through.
Has Senator Pocock’s success in the Senate seen a roll-on effect in any of those seats?
It has certainly seen high-quality independents stand up and show their eagerness to contest the election.
In the seat of Bean, independent candidate Jessie Price has had such a strong campaign that every time she is mentioned in the media, the trolls come out in force (usually behind fake names), huffing and puffing about her as if she were a major contender – because she is.
In the seat of Canberra, held comfortably by Labor’s Alicia Payne, there is another independent, Claire Miles, who has put in a mighty effort but knows the difficulty she is facing in her bid to be elected.
Those who know Ms Miles describe her as “the real deal”, but unlike Ms Price and Senator Pocock, this independent does not have the backing of campaign funder Climate 200 (her decision).
She is just as keen, however, to be an independent MP in a minority government where a hung parliament means the major parties have to take Canberra more seriously than they currently do.
“I’m not getting any funding, which also means no built-in helpers,” Ms Miles told Region just a few days out from the 3 May election date.
“The sense at the moment is that people are positive, but I feel like they come up to me when they’re positive and want to talk about it, so I can’t just live in that little realm.
“People do want change, but obviously it’s a scary thing to change. They don’t know what a hung parliament means to them. So I’m talking a lot about how that works.
“Canberra has been taken for granted for so long. The Labor Party thinks it’s such a safe seat that they have put the Greens second on their preference list, yet they say they will not negotiate with the Greens.
“So what does that mean for Canberra? Are they saying that if a Greens person gets in, they’re not going to negotiate with them? I’m absolutely not a Green in disguise. If I were a Green, I would have joined the Greens party.
“I’m disappointed not just in the Labor Party but also in the Greens in not being able to show their negotiation skills.”
Ms Miles points to the fact that Labor has announced big spending initiatives in this campaign for the ACT as a sign of the impact independents are having – and especially in her electorate of Canberra.
“I think my campaign has been a success so far just because we’ve actually got some money promised for Canberra,” she said.
“I haven’t seen that in a previous election.
“Just running and getting my name out there and showing people there can be a different voice has been my aim.
“I haven’t put a number on what I’d like to see the margin reduced by or anything because I actually want to win.
“I’m advocating for a louder voice in Canberra because I don’t think we’re represented well enough in parliament.
“It’s hard when you belong to a party machine and the decision-making is so centralised, and loud voices in the party room make those decisions.
“I think we’re underfunded in a lot of ways and I think that again comes down to not having a real say in where the money is going.
“I will absolutely not align myself with one of the parties. That’s why I’ve gone independent.
“I think that’s part of my campaign about being a centrist, because I think there’s value in voices across the political spectrum, which shouldn’t shut out one side because we’re not aligned to that side.”
And where will Ms Miles be spending election night after a long campaign and busy polling day?
“I’m still undecided. My street wants a street party, whether we win or lose,” she said.
“But I’m quite happy with getting into my pyjamas at 6:05 and eating some pizza.”
