A renewed community movement is taking shape across the New England electorate, with Voices of New England officially regrouping and committing to strengthening active democracy in the lead up to the 2028 Federal Election.
The resurgence follows Barnaby Joyce’s announcement he will not contest New England at the next election, followed by him announcing a party switch to One Nation and plans to contest the Senate. The group says the indicatively open seat has created a “rare and important moment” for the region, and “a genuine opportunity to shape what comes next”.
Voices groups have become a familiar feature of the Australian political landscape over the past decade. The first, Voices for Indi, was established in 2012 and successfully backed Cathy McGowan to become the local member. In the lead up to the 2019 Federal Election, Voices of Warringah was formed, followed by similar groups in Wentworth, North Sydney and Mackellar in New South Wales. Others emerged in Kooyong and Goldstein, with the candidates they supported becoming known as the “teals”.
The model centres on grassroots community engagement. Local volunteers organise “kitchen table conversations”, small informal discussion sessions, as well as larger public events. Many establish community hubs as spaces for political discussion. Importantly, Voices groups do not always recruit and endorse candidates, and do not run election campaigns themselves. Each independent campaign that emerges from a Voices-style recruitment process operates as a separate organisation, although they frequently share volunteers and supporters.
Nationally, some candidates backed by Voices groups have received funding from Climate 200, led by energy investor Simon Holmes à Court, in an effort to support candidates with a progressive position on climate change action. In the most recent federal election, a rurally focused organisation called the Regional Voices Fund emerged and also contributed to 13 independent campaigns. Both groups supported Caz Heise’s campaign in Cowper, which ultimately proved unsuccessful despite some two millon dollars being ploughed into the campaign to try and wrangle the seat away from the Nationals.
In New England, the first iteration of a Voices-style group focused on encouraging engagement and debate rather than endorsing a specific candidate. In 2016, it produced a scorecard on all candidates. In 2019, the group was strongly linked to Adam Blakester’s independent campaign, although it did not undertake a formal recruitment process to identify and endorse a candidate.
That campaign ultimately fell short of expectations. Mr Blakester secured 14.18 per cent of the primary vote and narrowly overtook Labor to reach the final preference count, before losing to Barnaby Joyce 64.36 per cent to 35.64 per cent. Afterwards, Mr Blakester said he found Joyce’s high primary vote “befuddling”.
Following that educational experience, the movement briefly faltered before re-emerging in 2021 as a Facebook page called What Matters New England Electorate. The reformed group produced a report on what matters to the community and sent it to all candidates in 2022, seeking written responses. After that election, the group changed its name to Voices of New England again to realign with the broader movement.
Momentum again proved difficult to sustain.
“After the last Federal election, most of VoNE’s original leadership resigned. Our major obstacle was finding people outside of Armidale who were interested in participating. A small Armidale group agreed to try to keep the organisation alive in case others came forward with new energy. We are no longer willing to do so,” the group wrote in a post announcing its annual general meeting in December 2024.
Now, that needed energy and fresh blood appears to have arrived.
At the organisation’s AGM held last week, the once Independent candidate now Uralla Shire councillor, Adam Blakester, rejoined the effort and was elected Convenor of the regrouped movement.
“Across New England, people care deeply about their communities and their future,” Mr Blakester said .
“For me, getting involved again is about creating the space for genuine listening — not just during elections, but well before them.”
“This feels like an important moment to ask what representation really means for us, and how we can encourage leadership that reflects the values, aspirations and diversity of our electorate.”
The ‘important moment’ is not created solely by Joyce announcing he won’t run. The seat is also significantly larger, with the redistricting before the last election bringing the remainder of Gwydir shire and all of Muswellbrook – and its very different issue profile – into the electorate. Additionally, neighbouring Nationals electorates, where Joyce was frequently seen campaigning, may also see this moment as an opportunity to seek different representation, taxing the traditional party from all sides. And at the NSW Country Labor Conference held over the weekend, Labor made it clear they intend to strongly contest regional seats as well, building on the ground they gained after winning 24 regional seats in 2025.
Amongst all this uncertainty and change, Voices of New England is confident it can build the volunteer base required across the vast and diverse electorate, buoyed by the surge of interest.
More than 30 people joined the recent meeting, with all formal office bearer roles filled and two well-staffed sub-committees established to relaunch the organisation and manage communications. Notably, several participants were younger voters who argued that Barnaby Joyce had been the local member for their entire voting lives – and it was time for change.
Voices of New England Communications Sub-Committee Lead Joanne Stead said there was a clear appetite for a different style of engagement.
“At the first meeting the other night, we heard people say they’re interested in being involved because they believe Voices of New England offers a genuine point of difference for the electorate,” Ms Stead said.
“It’s about reimagining what democracy feels like here — moving away from the politics of fear, outrage and division, and towards something safe, accessible and community-friendly.”
“We need spaces where we can have the complex conversations facing our region, respectfully and constructively.”
“Voices is a chance to come together as a community and determine the values we would like our future representative to stand for — regardless of party. It’s about participation, not partisanship,” she said.
For now, Voices of New England says its immediate focus is on building momentum, strengthening networks across the electorate, and laying the groundwork for a broad, values-based community conversation about the future of representation in New England. Rebuilding after near collapse does take some work, and the group emphasised it is in its early stages but will provide further details as planning progresses.
Community members interested in volunteering, hosting conversations or contributing ideas are encouraged to connect through the group’s Facebook page.
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