Citizens’ agenda: What do you want the election candidates for Barker to talk about?
Have your say in our two-minute survey and help Murray Bridge News set the agenda ahead of the 2025 federal election.
A federal election is coming up in 2025, and Murray Bridge News wants to help you decide how to vote.
What are the issues that matter the most to you?
What do you want to know about the candidates for Barker?
Take our two-minute survey and let us know.
Instead of letting political parties set the agenda, we’d like the Murraylands’ voters to determine what the candidates talk about in the lead-up to polling day.
We’ll turn your ideas into a “citizens’ agenda”: a list of the things locals want from their next federal MP.
Each week during the election campaign – when it begins – we’ll ask the candidates about one of your top issues.
Towards the end of the campaign, we’ll host a candidates’ forum in Murray Bridge, where you can come and ask questions in person.
Take our two-minute survey and let us know what you’d like to ask them about.
When will the federal election be held?
Unlike state and local elections, which have fixed terms, the federal election can be held whenever Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tells the Governor he’s ready to rumble.
However, because of the way Australia’s electoral system works, the election date is likely to be sometime between March 8 and May 17.
Voters in the Murraylands and Mallee are part of the electorate of Barker, whose current representative is Liberal MP Tony Pasin.
So far only one other candidate has announced his intention to run against Mr Pasin: One Nation’s Cody Scholes.
Labor and the Greens are yet to name their candidates, and no other minor party or independent candidates have yet emerged, either.
Barker is regarded as a very “safe” seat for the Liberals, having been held by conservative parties since the Australian Parliament was established in 1901.
But every election is a clean slate, and every vote counts.
It’s not just about who wins, either – candidates who earn more than four per cent of votes receive $3.39 per vote from the Australian Electoral Commission, so they can run a better campaign next time around.
So who deserves your three bucks, and your vote?
Tell us about the issues that matter to you and we’ll help you figure out an answer.
