Churning this out in a rush before I go on air with ABC radio… I HAVE BIG NEWS! Today I’m announcing that I’m running as the Greens candidate for Mayor of Brisbane in the March 2024 local government elections.This wasn’t a decision I’ve come to lightly. But after thinking deeply about Australia’s current political context and the most viable pathways towards deep transformational change, I think we have a huge opportunity here in Brissie.
Council decisions shape almost every aspect of our lives, from where we live, how we move around and who we connect with on a regular basis.So the design and governance of our city shapes the culture and values of all the people live here. And of course, the ideas and priorities that dominate in Brisbane have a disproportionate impact on Queensland (even most of the media that people consume outside South-East Queensland is actually produced here). Queensland is one of Australia’s key swing states, so Brisbane is effectively the tail wagging the political dog of Australian politics.
But Brissie residents have no meaningful control over the future of our city. We are sometimes consulted tokenistically, but council decision-making ultimately prioritise the short-term financial interests of big business and major property developers, rather than the long-term public interest.
Right now, the LNP hold 20 out of 27 seats in Brissie, and use that power base to drive an individualistic, extractivist, hyper-competitive view of progress that treats housing as a for-profit commodity and the ‘natural’ environment as something to be subdued and exploited.
But it wouldn’t take much to turn that around. Support for the Greens has been surging in recent years, and based on the 2022 federal results, there are now as many as 10 wards that the Greens could win off the LNP, which would push them out of majority and create a foundation for a more sustainable, more ethical, more democratic city.Of course, I’m not just running to win votes and seats – I don’t believe that deep, lasting change comes through the ballot box alone. I think it comes from a multi-faceted strategy where different parts of our movement work together and build each other up.
I want this mayoral campaign to support and energise grassroots direct action rather than distracting from it. We want to empower local communities to support each other and change unjust systems at the grassroots, rather than waiting for the government to come save us (because guess what: hierarchical top-down governance is part of the problem).
One of the core messages of our campaign will be the idea that if we can give residents more control over the big decisions that shape our city, we can transform our democracy – and the entire system – from the bottom up.
To have any hope of doing that though, I need your help. We need people who believe a better world is possible to step up and volunteer. And we need donations so we can fund campaign organisers and produce campaign materials to counter the tidal wave of corporate money that will no doubt be deployed against the utopian resistance we aim to build.
So if you feel inspired to support this movement, check out the links in the comments below. And PLEASE share this post.(The corporate media is not going to give this kind of campaign a big platform, so we are relying heavily on word of mouth to spread our message.
Every time you see advocating an idea you agree with, take a moment to hit the ‘share’ button so we can reach more people.)
We have a little over 6 months before election day, and I’m super excited to see what we can achieve together.
Jonathan Sriranganathan
16 Aug 2023