All Action Is In The Reaction
Last 23 September, we tried a different type of action. Drawing on recent experiences from the union, faith, and environmental movements, the NSW Community Alliance ran a lobby day on NSW Parliament to launch our action season. In the end, over 80 community leaders held 26 recorded meetings with 28 parliamentarians and 5 ministers (not including staffer meetings).
As a coalition, we are used to running actions on our turf—accountability assemblies at our venues, demonstrating our culture, sticking to our terms. You will usually find us at school gyms or community halls, bringing stripes of colour through shirts and banners, raising the roof with cultural music, dance and food. And you will see people! Hundreds, if not, over a thousand.
NSW Parliament is quite different. A place steeped in colonial history, both in architecture and polity. Business was perhaps more rigid, muted, singular. We had to navigate security gates and ringing bells, MPs stepping in and out of chambers, squeezing in small but powerful delegations into office rooms.
Our quest was to create a reaction in this place. We wanted to the NSW Government to witness a diverse, organised, and unified alliance of civil society organisations, from across the geography of the state's two largest cities, and we wanted them to feel accountable to us, desiring real working relationships to make life in our cities better.
Ultimately, across the 26 meetings:
22 recorded a follow-up connection with the parliamentarian or their staff
18 recorded acceptance of a specific ask or practical next step
19 recorded recognition of the Alliance as a trusted civil society network
14 recorded consolidation of an existing relationship, while 1 meeting initiated a new relationship
I'll remember a staffer telling me on the day "NSW Parliament rarely feels this vibrant and diverse, it should feel more like this!" It was clear we left an impression.
Whilst our assemblies often strive for the same reaction of accountability, there was good reason to hold such an action on their turf. Practically, we could meet many more politicians in one day, on multiple issues. But we were also able to have more candid, fluid discussions, essential for building public relationships.
What happens next now means more than ever. With many Parliamentarians invited to our 2 upcoming Assemblies in Sydney, it's on us to make these powerful. Registration is open for both so let's make sure our people are there, and that the relationships we have begun to weave within and beyond our Alliance can lead to the change our cities desperately need. More details on the assemblies below.
Onwards and upwards,
Raul
Raul Sugunananthan
Community Organiser
