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Federal Election Campaign - Day 1

The announcement of my lead senate candidacy, 12 April 2024, will go down in the history of our party as the first day of the next Federal election campaign. But the truth is the campaign has been ongoing for far longer.

The Victorian State Executive, the Federal Campaign Committee, and the Federal Executive have been working tirelessly behind the scenes - at the Victorian State Executive level since the latter half of last year. I want to thank each group for their efforts and the level of due diligence that went into the endorsement process. 

My own campaign team, along with State Campaign Director Steve Paton, have likewise put in a power of work in the first stages of what will be the longest sustained and organised campaign we have ever run as a party.

It would be generous to say that the last Federal election saw more than three or four months of concerted planning. That is the nature of politics, and minor party politics in particular. But the hard work put in now by our party has us in a better position to win the hearts and minds of voters in Victoria than we have ever been. We will be out there speaking to the community long before our political rivals get out of bed.

One of my first priorities is to get out and around to all of the branches and meet with you, be it North East Metro on Tuesday 16 April, Bendigo on Thursday 18 April, or North Metro on Tuesday 23 April. By the end of May I intend to have visited every branch in the State, including nascent branches forming in Gippsland and Shepparton.

Strong, active branches are going to be a crucial foundation of the engaged and successful lower house campaigns that I will need to support to win the sixth Senate spot.

Volunteers and donations are the lifeblood of any campaign.

If you can commit your time or a special skill you may have, please click here to register your interest to volunteer. Even if you don't know what you could do or how you could help, every volunteer matters. 

Many with our beliefs, values and principles have suffered greatly since the last Federal election. This extends to financial hardship. If there is any amount you can give, no matter how small, donating early by clicking here will help to invigorate and kickstart this campaign, and be immensely appreciated. 

I want this campaign to be a journey we go on together. If you want to make sure that you're kept up to date with what my team and I are doing, and the progress of the campaign, click here to join the campaign mailing list so you won't miss out on anything between now and the next Federal Election.

Winning a Senate spot in Victoria is more achievable than it has ever been, for a range of reasons that we'll explore as the campaign goes on, but I want to be honest with you about the scope of the challenge ahead.

To be confident of a Senate seat, we will need 250,000 votes. Victory is possible below that with luck and preferences, but as they say in boxing and MMA we do not want to leave this to the judges scorecards. This will require 2-3 times the vote we achieved at the last Federal election.

We will get there not only by doing more on election day - though manning every booth we can and ensuring our materials are at each polling booth is important - but by winning votes over the next 6-12 months before the election is called. We need to get our brand, and my candidacy, in front of as many Victorians as possible, because what we know is that when Australians consider our ideas in terms they can relate to, they often agree. As a small example - and, I hope, a sneak peak of the branding research and exercise that the Federal party is close to having more exciting news on - 80% of a sample of 1,000 Australians agreed with the proposition that they wanted less Government interference in their lives and the ability to live their lives as they chose.

Language is important, but so is the ability to have the conversation in the first place. And in one way or another, I will need to have over 250,000 conversations. I look forward to having some of those with you in the coming weeks and months, and many more with Victorians who don't yet know we exist in between now and the next election.

I promise to make you proud as Libertarians through my advocacy!


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