Member Bulletin: Tasmanian Election Resources
Dear Members,
You will all of course be aware that the Tasmanian state government has called an early election for March 23rd, 2024. This is just a quick email from us at TNA with some info and resources to help you make the most of election time!
Some Key Info
This election is slightly different than previous ones because the number of members in Tasmania's House of Assembly is increasing from 25 to 35, with each division increasing from 5 members to 7 (and also because it was called last minute!).
You will now need to number at least 7 boxes for your vote to count.
Enrolment to vote closes tomorrow, Wed 21 Feb at 6pm.
You can find more information on the TEC website.
Contacting your Members and Candidates
Members and candidates will now be scrambling to finalise their nominations and prepare their campaigns, and so now is not the ideal time to be requesting meetings or trying to build relationships. However, it can be useful to send a succinct letter/email to your members and candidates to let them know what is important to you (their constituent) and what kinds of things you want to see from them should they be elected. New candidates in particular will be looking for ways to make friends and get votes.
If you don't already have them in your database you can find the five House of Assembly (lower house) members, and one Legislative Council (upper house) member for your division on this great page. The final announcement of nominations will not be until March 1st, but you can use news articles like this ABC one to find some new candidate names.
You may consider sending a one page email/letter outlining who you are, where you're from, and what you want to see from them in the next term of government. You could also include some stats about your electorate or the role arts and culture plays. These resources will be useful for this:
Cathryn Williams coordinated the sector in making submissions to the Tas 2024-25 budget, which TNA used to also make a submission. It includes some great stats and key requests that you could echo.
Creative Australia's Electorate Profiles have some key figures on engagement and employment for Federal electorates, which conveniently align closely with Tasmanian state divisions.
TNA wrote a guide for the last Federal election, including a letter template, which you can use.
TNA has a Quick Facts page with some key statements and stats for how arts and culture benefits other areas of society.
Post Election
Once the dust from the election has settled will be the best time to start engaging with your newly elected members, especially if you haven't done so before. Building a relationship where you touch base with them at last twice a year can lead to real tangible benefits, visibility, and support. The easiest thing to do is make sure they are all on the invite list to your performances/presentations! Don't forget members of the Opposition - they may end up being your Minister in the next government and it's easier to make friends when they aren't in power.
You can use TNA's Advocacy Toolkit for all the tips and tricks, including who to contact and what to say.
I hope this information is useful in helping you make arts and culture more visible this election. Please let us know if there's anything else you need!