Tasmania is headed to the polls and it’s been great to witness the emergence of five strong independent candidates in the Hobart Glenorchy electorate of Clark. And not beyond time, because the community has had a gutful of politics, politicians and most of the political parties. And no wonder considering the ugly factional brawling that marred the first weeks of this campaign, and the fact that the poll was cynically called 12 months early to cash in on a global pandemic.
The problem is party politicians are told what to think, what to say and how to vote. They’re just hacks mindlessly nodding like bobblehead dolls dancing to the tune of big corporate donors. In contrast good independents think for themselves, say what they think, fight for what they believe in and vote on merit. In other words independents represent their community and pursue the public interest, not the political self-interest of some cosy club.