Election strategy & outcomes

With the Federal Election scheduled for 3 May, political engagement and strategy will be on the minds of many organisations. This is what to do during the election campaign and post-election engagement.

The timing of when organisations should be engaging and when governments, parties, Members of Parliament and candidates make and finalise decisions for the election, is one of those areas which doesn’t have a schedule written down, but is about protocol, knowledge and experience.

The parties will largely have their policy platforms and priorities finalised for the election campaign. We will steadily see announcements made over the coming weeks. For organisations seeking to engage, this would largely have needed to be done over the past few months - and in reality years - prior to the election. Building relationship in pollical circles and communicating your ideas – in the hope of getting a commitment in a party’s election platform – takes work, time, consistency and persistence. It also takes being communicate a clear idea, outcomes and costings.

Sometimes initiatives from an organisation can make their way into a party’s or candidates election priorities and platform. But this needs to have involved an existing relationship and engagement, absolute confidence from you and in what you are communicating, and much pre-work to have any stakeholders involved on board and supporting your idea.

Then comes post-election, potentially a new government, a returning government but with new Ministers, MPs, Senators and priorities, committees, and committee chairs. All these are parts of the political system that organisations can and should engage in.

It is about having a clear strategy for who you want to talk to; clear articulation on your priorities - don’t bring problems, bring solutions. If you say you are the expert, then that’s what you need to communicate. Confidence in what you are saying is key! Having your stakeholders on board and not going in with an idea when you don’t know if you have external support. Remember, a new government will get inundated with people and organisations wanting to talk to them and you need to stand out.

 Post-election it is going to be vital to know who to engage with and how to do this properly. I understand and have worked with the protocols and can assist you to be the most effective you can – large organisation or small. This is to achieve outcomes, have better engagement with government and parliamentarians, and create a better experience for those doing the advocacy and those being advocated to. I want organisations to build and have outcomes that benefit the community.