The importance of communicating with your elected representatives

With annual budgets, community visions and four-yearly plans (all critical to shaping climate emergency action in the next decade) being released for community feedback, I thought it worthwhile to reflect on the importance of communicating with your elected representatives and councils.

The system we operate within

Broadly we understand how the political system works. Every few years our community is given the opportunity to come together to hire one or several local representatives for a fixed-term to best represent their views in our city halls and parliaments.

With each election comes the promise that the person you select will represent you to the best of their ability through the thousands of decisions they will make in the years ahead. Even if you may have only selected them based on a paragraph from a flyer in your letterbox or a friend’s recommendation.

If they perform well you’ll back them in again and if they perform poorly you get the opportunity to hire another willing candidate at the next set of elections.

For thousands of people, this is the full extent of their political engagement. We outsource all key decision making, voting rights and responsibility within that level of government to one or a handful of people. In return for our support, we expect they understand how we would want them to vote. Often without directly engaging in a meaningful way with these representatives.

For those on the outside of politics, it can seem stagnant or boring and those working within the system at times perceived as apathetic. Having worked on implementing policy top-down as an elected representative and bottom-up as a public servant I can tell you that there is nothing further from the truth.

Domestically the good in politics far outweighs the bad and those working to implement positive change are working harder than ever.

Change makers within the system must be supported not just at the ballot box but by continual engagement throughout each term. This means having meaningful interactions with those elected to represent your views. Even if you did not choose them.

Communication is paramount

What is key here is to not think of politics as one interaction every few years but instead as one continual interaction. Not just in taking the opportunity to speak or to make a submission but to provide ongoing communication and support.

Be it an engine that continually requires maintenance and improvement by thousands of community mechanics. One that with enough community support we can drive positive and progressive change across all environmental, social and economic factors we care so passionately about.

I was often disappointed knowing that more than one in ten people would vote for progressive candidates at elections yet when desperately wanting community feedback and budget submissions on important climate emergency actions we struggled to get to participation in the double digits in a city of a few hundred thousand. This giving those wanting to kerb the speed of change the ammunition to defund or deescalate the severity of the crisis we face.

Maybe there is an argument here about how we do better to engage the community or how we demonstrate the benefit of engaging with our institutions and decision-makers? Maybe we need to have a broader conversation on our expectations and the political system as a whole?

I can say with certainty your representative will get it wrong at some point but there is no reason why you cannot courteously engage with them to voice your displeasure and provide them with a viable alternative. It is certainly not a reason to disengage.

We are truly lucky to have the opportunity to meaningfully engage our leaders and be heard. So we must take that opportunity whenever we can.

Where do I start?

Across the country, several local governments are drafting community visions, council plans, strategies and annual budgets. Some even have upcoming local elections. Every interaction an opportunity for you to engage, contribute and make positive change.

Scientists have told us we have less than a decade to act before it is too late to stop a cascade of catastrophic climate events from occurring. We no longer have the luxury of only engaging once every three or four years.

Your first step should be making time to navigate to your local government’s website. This is where you will see all draft documents open to receiving feedback. Here you can start by making a submission to a key strategy, budget or plan.

Submissions and emails can be as simple as a few sentences on a policy or action that should be implemented or funded. You may wish to start with the largest source of emissions or the one policy that neighbouring communities or states have implemented but your community is lagging on. You may choose to simply copy an action from the Local Government Climate Emergency Toolkit.

If you are outside of a submission window you can still have your voice heard by making a phone call, sending an email, asking a question at town hall, or asking to arrange a meeting with your representative.

You never know, your small interaction could be the first your representatives have heard of a topic or may be the deciding factor in swinging a close vote that changes outcomes for your community for the better.

If you are looking for actions your community can take, make sure you view the Local Government Climate Emergency Toolkit here.