Five things we’d like people to know about Canberra during the federal election campaign
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Here we are in the lead up to another federal election. We’re looking forward to a sausage sizzle at the local school and maybe a cake stall if we’re lucky.
But we get a bit tired of the way our reputation is kicked around during federal election campaigns. So here are some things we’d like to say.
We hate the shorthand of ‘Canberra’ as the federal government or parliament
Canberra gets a bit of a rough trot during election campaigns. No one wants to come here for photo ops wearing hi-vis vests.
We don’t have enough voters to make it worthwhile taking up precious election time to persuade us that we are loved and wanted. Barrels of pork are small.
Sometimes candidates get carried away and say unkind things about the city and its 450,000 inhabitants, as if we are all the same.
So when ‘Canberra’ is used as a negative shorthand for a federal government made up of people who don’t spend much time here, we can feel somewhat miffed.
Parliament sits in Canberra, but it’s not Canberra.
We are fairly normal (At least statistically)
Collectively we are slightly younger than the Australian average, slightly less likely to own a house outright and slightly more likely to be paying off a mortgage. Rents are high.
The population is growing fast. New suburbs spring up on the outskirts. High-density housing is increasing. The new suburbs need more trees and public transport. Like any city.
Kids go to school. It’s hard to get a doctor’s appointment. There’s empty shops in the malls. Like any city.
People experience poverty and disadvantage and need help from food pantries and support services. Most of the politicians that get sent here from around Australia will see those things in their own electorates, but not here. But they’re here. Like any city.
Not everyone is a public servant
About 24 percent of our working population work for the government. That’s a lot. But the percentage is decreasing over time. We are not just a one-industry town.
Canberrans work in normal jobs like plumbing, plastering, primary school teaching, pathology, and print-making. (Examples based on a very small data-set of my immediate neighbours.)
Most public servants are not the senior people in well-styled suits who appear on ABC drama shows looking worried.
And since it seems quite unlikely that a minister is going to answer phones and organise payroll and pop down to Centrelink to tell front line workers what to do, it’s handy to have some people on hand to do those sorts of things.
People who may be more likely to wear an elastic-waisted skirt and comfortable shoes than a fancy suit. Or a fabulous frock, weather dependent.
We come from away, and we belong to the land
People move to Canberra from other cities, towns, regional and remote areas.
They come for work, study, research and all kinds of reasons.
The traditional owners have been here longer than the nation of Australia has existed.
We’re not an ivory tower separated from other Australians. We’re related to most of them.
We are creative and what we like, we really really like
Burning rubber is the smell of summer, thanks to Summernats.
Sneezing is the sound of Spring, thanks to Floriade.
We love the Folk Festival, the Canberra Show, school fetes, vintage car shows, local artists, and trees. We love the Arboretum. We love joining bands and amateur theatre and writing groups and volunteering to plant trees or organise fun runs.
We like cocktails and coffee and ramen and cheese.
That’s all. We’re just a place. Which is nicer than being a political football.
