📍 St. Ives Showground, Sunday, February 2.

A scorching midday sun didn’t stop a sea of teal-shirted local volunteers showing up at St. Ives Showground on Sunday for the campaign launch of Nicolette Boele, the independent running for the seat of Bradfield.

Bradfield is currently at the centre of a major race ahead of the federal election. The once-safe North Shore Liberal seat is now balanced by a fine margin, with Boele rallying support during the last election and almost overtaking longstanding MP Paul Fletcher.

Since then, Fletcher has announced he is stepping away from politics, paving the way for a tight contest in 2025 between Boele and the Liberal’s selected candidate, Gisele Kapterian.

After a last-minute change of venue due to a reported overwhelming amount of RSVPs, Boele (pronounced “Buller”) outlined her community-oriented and climate-conscious vision for the Bradfield electorate to a crowd of around 600 supporters. 

🔐 The major parties are gridlocked on key issues, but “better is possible”

Tapping into doubts about the effectiveness of the two party system, Boele declared that “we can address rising emissions and rising costs in one fell swoop: clean energy,” drawing a thunderous round of applause from attendees.

She pledged to “make meaningful change on the issues that have been gridlocked by the major parties for decades” while her name and campaign slogan, “better is possible”, could be seen on tote bags, hats, umbrellas, tents, shirts, and even kerchiefs for dogs.

🔥 Key issues: Boele vs. the major parties

Boele emphasised her focus on community values over political partisanship as a local who grew up and raised two kids on the North Shore.

An experienced advisor in climate policy and sustainability for businesses and governments alike, she said her imperative is to roll out renewable energy as soon as possible and to advocate for “substantial economic reform”. 

Some of Boele’s proposed measures include:

🏡 Housing affordability – Increase housing supply, introduce shared equity schemes, boost rent assistance

🔋 Energy reform – Cut power bills with solar batteries, energy-efficient heat pumps and farm-scale solar batteries

🛒Supermarket competition – Break up the Coles/Woolworths duopoly by strengthening the ACCC

☀️ Climate action – Stop new coal approvals immediately

The independent candidate’s pledge to stop new coal approvals, in particular, received the loudest round of applause yet.

Above all, Boele committed to maintain “integrity and transparency” in her dealings with Canberra.

🦜 Speaking to the Lorikeet

“People really want a solution to the cost of living crisis,” Boele told the North Shore Lorikeet.

“Frankly, I’m feeling it as well. And it’s because the major parties for decades have dodged meaningful reform on supermarket competition, energy efficiency, and housing. These things really matter to people in Bradfield and I’m super committed to work on those things.”

The federal election is expected to be held in the coming months, with the Liberal party’s Gisele Kapterian appearing in Chatswood over the weekend to celebrate Lunar New Year. Kapterian is yet to announce specific focuses besides that which is already a focus of the Liberal party: assisting small and family business, investment for services and infrastructure, and support for local families.

👨👩 Community responds: “The thought of Peter Dutton aping Trump gives me nightmares”

🔹 Bob, a business analyst from West Pymble, told NSL that cutting down on bureaucracy and party politics was a major reason he was interested in Boele’s campaign.

“People are hurting,” he said. “When people are hurting, they go with populism. People don’t realise the consequences of wedge politics down the line… I’m from Sri Lanka, we had wedge politics virtually turn into a civil war. So I’m very passionate about this issue and actually having a community representative.”

🔹 “The thought of Peter Dutton aping Trump gives me nightmares,” retired geologist Greg Corbett told NSL. Corbett stood alongside retired audiovisual engineer Richard Newton, and both cited their disenchantment with the two party system as the reason for their support of Independent MPs. “We’re totally pissed [Kylea Tink] lost her seat. She lost it because she was doing a good job. The two party system can’t risk losing too many seats.”

🔹 Katrina, an interior decorator from Lindfield, told the Lorikeet that after voting “a bit of everything before…I thought it was time to help make a change” supporting an independent candidate who represents the community rather than a political party. “We have been so safe for so long, it’s time to get marginal.” 

🔹 Jane, a retiree living in Wollstonecraft, told NSL that “genuine engagement with a community is so important, because these communities are so much more diverse than many people think.” 

Jane said that Sydney’s Independent MPs have her support because “they’re not there as a stepping stone to a career and they’re not about to go on the board of a fossil fuel company.” 

As for the Liberal party, she said they were no longer an option for her, due to their gradual departure from a more centrist position.

🎙️ Boele says she’s answerable to the community, not the major parties

After the event Boele spoke with the North Shore Lorikeet, insisting that a vote for her was a vote for someone who didn’t have to do as they were told by political powerbrokers.

“I can vote with our community every single time on the merits of a bill while a party member must fall in line,” she said. “By having an Independent, we can turn up and push the major parties harder to have some of those difficult conversations.”

“I’m going to be holding a lot more town halls, engagements and surveys rather than making decisions behind party room doors. I want to make decisions in the open with experts and with locals impacted by the policies that we’ll make for them in Canberra.”

North Sydney Independent MP Kylea Tink, whose electorate has recently been abolished and redistributed, spoke in support of Boele at the event.

Tink praised Boele’s experience, commitment and discipline as well as her core values of “community, curiosity and courage” and anticipated a “pretty dirty campaign” from the Opposition ahead. She cited the progress Independent MPs have made on vehicle efficiency standards, truth in political advertising, climate action, and support for an Indigenous voice on the constitution.