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About the Better Together Party

We launched our campaign in April as the community-backed job-sharing candidate for Higgins. We wanted to show that politics could be done differently. That we could enable and support the people of Higgins to see their needs better represented in Federal Parliament.

We spent over a year talking to people in Higgins about their concerns and what they want to see in their federal politicians. We learned that while people had diverse views on the key issues facing the nation, the same words came up over and over again about what they wanted to see in their elected representatives - professionalism, authenticity, honesty, resilience, non-career politicians, integrity, decency, respect.

“I’m tired of the way politics is done. There is a lack of bold ideas. Politicians are not brave enough to tell us what their vision is.”

Unfortunately, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) had different ideas. In May, the AEC announced that as a part of its proposed redistribution for Victoria, it was planning to abolish the historic seat of Higgins in the next federal election. Despite our, and hundreds of other, objections, in September, the AEC announced that it would proceed with the abolition of Higgins. 

Listening to what we heard from our constituents, we knew we needed to continue our plan to shake up Australia’s political system. We decided the best way to do this was to run for a seat in the Senate. To be a strong voice for all Victorians.

Our vision is the same - a stronger nation where everyone has a voice in shaping our future.  

Our model is that we are Better Together.

Our values

Commitment

Commitment

We are ambitious for change and will work hard to make an impact for the people of Victoria. We do what we say we will do and do not blame others when we fall short.

Collaboration

Collaboration

Everything we do is done in collaboration – with each other, with our community and with expert advisors. Everything we achieve, we achieve together.

Respect

Respect

We respect our community and listen with open minds. We care about what people think.

Heart

Heart

Every connection with those around us matters. We have empathy, are inclusive and kind.

Service

Service

Our fundamental driver is serving the people of Victoria. We want to bring their concerns to the Federal Parliament and make a difference to their lives.

About us

I’m Bronwen Bock

I’m Bronwen Bock

I am a finance professional, governance expert and gender equality consultant. Having worked in investment banking at Macquarie for a decade and led Mergers & Acquisitions and Venture Capital investing for the company that owns realestate.com.au, I bring a commercial lens to solving problems and making decisions. As a wife and mother of three small children, I understand the challenges of balancing a fulfilling work and family life in today’s environment.

Like many parents with young families, I currently choose not to work in a role that would require me to work full-time, 70 hours a week and up to 22 weeks a year in Canberra. Despite this I have always been drawn to service, for example joining my kinder and school councils in recent years, to having an impact in my community and to making people’s lives better. Working with Lucy not only opens up the possibility for me to do this role, but together we will do it better. I look forward to serving the people of Victoria alongside Lucy.

I’m Lucy Bradlow

I’m Lucy Bradlow

I’m a lawyer, communicator, cake maker and a believer that if you have the opportunity to make change, you have to take it. My family emigrated to Australia from apartheid South Africa in the 1980s and I was brought up on two fundamental truths – that democracy cannot be taken for granted and that I won the lottery of life to live in Australia. Those truths have driven my educational and career choices, to studying at Oxford to working in political communications in London and Washington, D.C, and Canberra, to leading communications for Australia’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency. 

My reasons for job-sharing are different to Bronwen’s. Having worked in Federal Parliament, I know that it’s not a working environment that brings out the best in me. Politics can be aggressive, individualistic and unfriendly. But I also know that being a politician can be a way to drive real and lasting change for people. Working with Bronwen, I want to show that we can serve Victorians while working together in a supportive and collegiate way. I believe that the challenges we face are too important not to try!