Voices of Franklin (VoF) was established in 2023 with the aim of increasing participatory democracy in Australia’s most-southern electorate.

It does this by broadly following the example of the Voices (teal) independents movement in Australia and the work of the Community Independents Project.

The focus is ultimately on improving the quality of members of parliament. Such members would:

• Be more responsive to the needs of their electorates

• Champion good governance, human rights and ethics

• Be models of good behaviour both inside and outside parliament.

In recent decades voters in Australia have had a declining respect for politicians and political parties – and for good reason. This appalling situation needs to urgently change. The teal movement is showing the way.

VoF is led by a committee that is expanding to be representative of all the local government areas in the electorate and the diverse community within Franklin.

We are not a political party. We do not fund or run election campaigns. However, we may support an independent candidate who broadly aligns with the community independents movement.