Grassroots political movement, Voices for Monash (V4M) is hosting political scientist Ann Capling as guest speaker at its next "Politics in the Pub" event at the Railway Hotel, Warragul on February 14.
Dr Capling was campaign director for community nominated independent Monique Ryan in the federal Kooyong electorate which, against all odds, saw Dr Ryan unseat the sitting Liberal federal treasurer in what was for decades considered the safest seat in Australia.
Instrumental in transforming political dissatisfaction into positive community action, Dr Capling helped activate more than 2000 volunteers across the electorate as they participated in an historical movement to do politics differently.
V4M 'Politics in the Pub' events enable interested community members to come together to discuss issues relevant to both their local community and on a state or federal level.
In Warragul, Ann will lead the discussion on the journey of Kooyong to independent representation, and how the community drove the campaign rather than a political party.
Dr Capling will discuss how she led a grassroots movement guided by radical trust and community initiative, taking inspiration from the success of other community-led independent campaigns, such as that of Indi.
As co-founder of Voices for Kooyong, which pre-dated Dr Ryan's endorsement as a community independent candidate, she reflects on the early days of Voices for Kooyong - "by not focussing on a particular candidate, people from various political backgrounds dissatisfied with the current state of politics, came together to talk about how they could do better."
As one volunteer of Dr Ryan's campaign said, being involved "doesn't feel like politics – it feels like organised joy and optimism."
This event is part of a series of Politics in the Pub events hosted by Voices for Monash, with the aim of inspiring the community to get involved in the movement for democracy to do politics differently.
V4M committee member Deb Leonard said their last event, with guest speaker Denis Ginnivan, focused on the formation and journey of Voices for Indi, which saw both Cathy McGowan and subsequently Helen Haines elected as community independents in a once-safe Liberal seat.
"It will be interesting to hear how two starkly different electorates employed similar principles and methodology to each achieve better outcomes for their region.
"These events also provide a fantastic opportunity for people of the community to meet like-minded people and come together to discuss various issues affecting them," Ms Leonard said.