Click here for our 3-minute intro: https://youtu.be/N4g2cpUD9oI?si=W5vP8-Pb_Ku7onWD

Voices for Forrest has a long history in the electorate. The group got together as early as 2021. In the winter of 2023, a committed group started to organize regular gatherings in the Bunbury library. It was there that the decision was made to follow the example of Voices for Indi: find out what the community wants, and then go and find a community independent representative.

We are an Incorporated Association, and as such we are all volunteers. Most of the work is done by a small core team, with the incredible support of a wonderful crew of committed volunteers. Our circle of contributors and supporters in the community has grown in the past months.

Our supporters are based across the electorate: in Augusta, Margaret River, Witchcliffe, Rosa Brook, Cowaramup, Vasse, Busselton, Dunsborough, Yallingup, Capel, Greater Bunbury, Stratham, Gelorup, Australind, Eaton, Donnybrook, Balingup and Harvey.

We are part of the Community Independents Project network circle. We follow the Indi Way and base our decisions on our Vision, Mission and Values.

Voices for Forrest is not a political party, it is a local community group in the electorate of Forrest.

At the federal level, political parties usually operate throughout the whole nation. The party advertises for all candidates in all electorates, and controls the selection process for one candidate for each electorate. Candidates who win election become members of parliament for their party, and are required to vote and speak in parliament the way the party tells them to, under threat of losing pre-selection at the next election, as well as losing the confidence and support of their party for the rest of the current term. The party MP reports back to the community based on the party’s national policy, which is the same for every electorate in the whole nation.

In the Voices movement, local people select their candidate without any influence from anyone outside the electorate. The candidate commits to voting and speaking in parliament based on values and policies agreed by the electorate as being the wishes of the electorate, gained by rigorous consultations with the electorate. The Voices movement has no formal or influential links with any person or organisation outside the electorate; it is entirely governed within the electorate. The Voices MP reports back to the community based on the results of consultations held across the electorate, compiling the specific wishes of this electorate.

<thankyou John Sherwood>

Kitchen table conversations (KTCs) are get-togethers - usually in people's kitchens, with tea & cake - where everyone gets to share their opinion about the good things about living here, about the issues and the solutions, and about the way we're represented. You can find the questions here.

The conversations are hosted and facilitated by local volunteers.

They are designed as an information gathering process to find out what the people in the electorate of Forrest care about. The information given is absolutely anonymous and will be compiled and published into a report that will be shared publicly but strictly anonymously. You can have a look at our prelimary report here, and check our privacy policy here.

We owe a lot to the good people of the Victorian Women's Trust and their KTC handbook.

<the people in the photo have given their permission>

Voices for Forrest is part of the Australia-wide Voices movement. We are inspired by groups like Voices for Indi.

Voices of Indi chose Cathy McGowan as its community candidate, and she became the first woman to be elected to the crossbench in 2013. McGowan, after retaining the seat in 2016, passed the baton to independent Dr Helen Haines, making it the seat longest held by an independent.

Denis Ginnivan, founder of Voices for Australia and co-author of the Indi Way: “Some people think that the Voices group means you’re getting rid of an unpopular incumbent, but it isn’t that at all,” he said.
“The reason we formed was that people weren’t happy with the way in which politics was playing out for us in Indi. We decided to build a community engagement process.”

“The community has to want it themselves. It’s a community up rather than a party down approach,” he said.
“It is inspiring to see an approach where people value democracy and the principles behind it.”

“Voices for …” groups are springing up all over our country to replace the old paradigm of the two-party-dominated politics of the past.

Community Independents genuinely represent their community, reflect the values and views of their electorates, have a ‘compact’ with their community that guides their actions, empower their communities through collaborating and partnering with them, have processes for their communities to actively participate in politics, and are co-creating with their communities real political change in Australia (source: Community Independents project). They are not party members, single issue politicians or self appointed.

Yes! Anyone who agrees with our purpose and our values is welcome to be involved.