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Citizens’ agenda: What do you want the election candidates for Hammond to talk about?

Let's turn democracy back the right way up ahead of the 2022 state election. Have your say today in our two-minute survey.

Peri Strathearn

Jan 13, 2022 — 2 min read

What issues do you want them to focus on during the election campaign? Image: Peri Strathearn.

Whenever an election comes around, we get bombarded by announcements, promises and advertisements.

This time?

This time, Murray Bridge News is doing things differently.

You, the members of our community, will set the agenda for this election – you’ll decide what issues the candidates talk about and what questions they’re asked.

We’re calling it the citizens’ agenda: an attempt to turn democracy back the right way up, with the people telling the politicians what to do.

Have your say about the issues most important to you in our two-minute survey:

Have your say

It’s time for voters to have their say. Image: Getty Images.

What is the citizens’ agenda?

Murray Bridge News is asking every resident of Hammond – in Murray Bridge, Mannum, Strathalbyn and beyond – to list the issues most important to them.

We’ll read your answers, find common themes and collate them into a citizens’ agenda: a list of your priorities for the next Member for Hammond.

Through the election campaign, we’ll ask each candidate how they would address the issues you’ve raised during the next four years.

Don’t like their answers?

A public forum at the Bridgeport Hotel on Wednesday, March 16 – three days before the election – will give you a chance to put your questions to the candidates in person, COVID permitting.

Have your say in the next two weeks to put the candidates for Hammond on notice:

Have your say

Hammond will have new boundaries at the 2022 state election. Image: Electoral Commission of South Australia.

Key dates ahead of the 2022 state election

While you’re here, there’s a couple of dates you might like to keep in mind:

January 27: Citizens’ agenda published at www.murraybridge.news
February 25: Electoral roll closes – you’ve got until then to update your details if you’ve moved house since March 2018
February 28: Candidate nominations close – then we’ll know who is running for election, besides Liberal MP Adrian Pederick and independent candidate Airlie Keen
March 16: Candidates’ forum at the Bridgeport Hotel – more information to come
March 19: Election day

A quick reminder, too: residents of Tailem Bend and the Coorong district will shift into the electoral division of MacKillop at this election, as shown in the map above.

Murray Bridge News will feature some info about the candidates for MacKillop during the election campaign, but won’t be able to go into quite the same level of detail.

If the citizens’ agenda approach works, though, we’ll do it again for this year’s federal election – due sometime in the next eight months – and council elections in November.

In the meantime, help us set the agenda:

Have your say

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