Sign up now to host or attend an Election Action GetTogether!

GetTogethers can be an amazing, insightful way to come face-to-face with other GetUp members and most importantly create change from the grassroots up with others in your local community. If you've never attended or hosted a GetTogether before you might be unsure as to what to expect. Below is some feedback from a GetUp member who hosted one of our Vision GetTogethers in 2008.

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The GetTogether was the weirdest experience. But nice. Both novel and inspiring - there I was, a bit over-stretched and reluctantly dragooned into hosting a GetTogether for GetUp, whatever that meant. I hadn’t had to do much. I just clicked the ‘volunteer’ type button supplied in their website and gave my address. Not too difficult. Then lo and behold, within 24 hours my 16 allocated places had all been taken. 16 people I didn’t know had said they would come and join the GetTogether at my house. All I knew was their names. That felt odd. A few had emailed to ask about bringing food and drinks, and another for instructions on getting there by public transport, but mainly there was absolutely nothing but a name. I decided to get a friend to join me. She was meant to be having dinner with her mother-in-law so they both came. For moral support. In case. (In the event both she and the mother-in-law came… offering excellent moral support with the drinks, the minutes and a post-meeting discussion!)

There were a few cancellations, sick children or spouses or some just couldn’t make it… and the person who had been going to join us by bus from work in Tuggeranong missed his connection so had to cancel on the night.

It was just odd waiting for these total strangers to arrive and as people started to knock and enter it was positively freaky having these names take shape. The digital identity taking human form. I suppose that nexus is starting to be more common – internet dating happens, after all, but I imagine the lead in is probably more targeted, with a bit more background information supplied… whereas there was no indication about anything with these people.

What happened was that as people arrived and became a palpable identity the fear of the anarchic hordes who operate on the internet was entirely dispelled, and this amazingly broad cross-section of Australians who are concerned at the direction Australia is taking was revealed. I felt as if we could have been a TV ad showing how caring and concerned Australians of all ages and types are.

Twelve of us. Such a beautiful array of different people/backgrounds. There was the 82 year old retired Uniting Church Minister and his ageing wife … she didn’t like computers but was there as the driver and she was as passionate as anyone regarding the issues needing addressing in Canberra and beyond… There was the 19 year old who had recently left his apprenticeship to do tertiary study because he’s always been fascinated by politics… The professional woman who had recently moved to Canberra to run a local theatre company… she was beautiful and beautifully attired, with a good feel for how to get people’s attentions to focus on the relevant issues. The retired school counselor and her sign-writer husband, both of whom have become members of the Greens but agreed with the meeting’s desire to educate people regarding the non party-political nature of GetUp. (Undoubtedly many political parties would sympathise or endorse the issues which have been taken up by GetUp, and many of those political parties would currently be in Opposition, but many members of the Coalition would also sympathise with issues taken up by GetUp -- in fact Malcolm Fraser could be typecast as its ideal patron!)

All of which goes to illustrate the next amazing thing. Here we were. This bunch of strangers who had nothing in common but a concern for the direction Australia (and the world) is taking. (And maybe we live close-ish to each other, and many of us are likely to be competent computer users, but this doesn’t seem much to go on). The amazing thing is that we were able to discuss passionate issues constructively and courteously and come to agreements so effectively. As we talked there were common strands in people’s interests, obviously reflecting issues GetUp have taken up. Concerns for refugees, for indigenous Australians. A feeling that we must do everything we can to care for our planet and that our Governments should be leading the way on this. A desire to avoid the disenfranchisement of any Australian, particularly the young (and in my case particularly the prisoners). A sense that the Iraq war is and was all wrong… An eclectic range but just so refreshing and inspiring to find a group of strangers who also care.

We decided to focus particularly on the abysmal nature of public transport in Canberra with its consequent negative impact on the environment, and the issue of disenfranchisement – this seems to be occurring in Australia in a number of ways and we were focusing on the new laws passed (without adequate scrutiny by an effective Senate) closing the rolls so soon after an election is called (the question of whether the AEC is effectively targeting the young was one of the issues to be researched/explored). The other sense of disenfranchisement we have is with respect to the failure of Australian politicians to adequately address climate change when it is of such widespread concern. Various actions around these themes were devised by the meeting and have been committed to by group members.

I have been a member of many NGO’s over many years and I swear I have never been, with so little trouble, part of creating a 12 person group whose members have committed themselves to on-going participation… particularly when the group has that challenging focus of being action oriented – when it’s about stirring ourselves and prodding ourselves to take actions and promote causes of social justice (and we were able to start this constructive process so effectively at our first meeting – I think it was seven concrete actions about to be undertaken by members of the group). It’s amazing. An organic process managed by the people, with help from technology. For me personally it really was no hassle. All I had to do was click the button, wait for a bit and then buy biscuits and open my door.*

*Well OK to be entirely truthful I also had to download the audio file, turn on my computer speakers, answer a few emails, a phone call and print out some materials. Still not very onerous.

Sign up now to host or attend an Election Action GetTogether!