TIPS FOR CONTACTING
YOUR MP
Thank you for considering contacting your Member of
Parliament to let them know you support equal
marriage. Contacting your MP is easy, and is crucial
to winning equal marriage rights for all
Australians.
If you are unsure
which federal electorate you live in or who your
local MP is, find out here:
http://apps.aec.gov.au/esearch/
CONTENTS:
Effective Outreach
Meeting Tips:
- The electorate office is the point of contact
- Prior to the meeting
- At the meeting
- After the meeting
Letter Writing Tips
Phone Call Tips
Following Up
Equal Marriage - Key Messages
Questions? Concerns?
EFFECTIVE OUTREACH:
It is important to recognise that not all types of
contact are equal. In political terms, it is fair to
say that a meeting between a constituent and an MP
would be worth 50 personalised letters or 100
telephone calls and a phone call would be worth
1,000 emails.
Email messages are increasingly being used to lobby
MPs on all kinds of issues. Many such emails are
often deleted without being opened. Email is the
easiest form of mass communication and it does not
establish residency in a particular electorate.
Therefore, an MP could be receiving many emails and
not be sure that they originated in Australia, let
alone in their electorate.
A phone call is more valuable than an email
-
There’s an
opportunity to let the electorate officer know
where you live and therefore establish your role
as a constituent.
-
If the MP is not
in the office, you can calmly explain your
position to the electorate officer or ask for the
MP to return your call—that way you register
your position with their office in a respectful,
calm manner.
-
If and when the MP
returns your call, you’ll have a few minutes to
introduce yourself and personalise the issue. If
this is the case, follow the meeting tips
outlined below.
-
You’ll also have
an opportunity to ask them directly to support
equal marriage and, if they say they do, ask
them to speak with their colleagues.
-
If you're shy, you
can always call after hours and leave a message.
Be sure to clearly state that you support
same-sex marriage and leave your name, address
and phone number so they can confirm you are a
constituent.
(see below for tips on effective phone calls)
A personal letter is valuable
-
Residency is
established by the return address.
-
The fact that this
issue is important to you is clear as you took
the time to write.
-
You can take your
time to compose your letter – introduce yourself
and why you support equal marriage and ask for
their support.
-
Provide a phone
number and/or email address to make it easier
for them to respond to you.
(see below for tips on writing letters to your
MP)
A meeting is best
Meeting with your MP is probably the most powerful
thing you can do to get them to support equal
marriage. Meeting with your MP gives them a chance
to put a human face on the issue, and it gives you
(and Australian Marriage Equality) the opportunity
to understand their perspective, in terms of their
personal views, their concerns and their perception
of where their constituents stand.
MEETING TIPS:
1.
The local electorate office is the point of contact:
-
Call the MPs
electorate office (address and phone numbers are
available by
clicking here).
-
Provide your name,
the fact that you live in the electorate and
that you’d like to meet with the MP on the issue
of same-sex marriage.
-
Politely answer
any questions that the electorate officer may
ask—remember, he or she is the eyes and ears of
the MP in the local electorate.
-
Be patient on
timing but persistent that you meet face to face
some time in the next few weeks.
2. Prior to the Meeting:
3. At the Meeting:
-
Be Yourself - it’s
important to be genuine. Even if you stumble a
bit at first, just relax and be yourself.
-
Use Key Messages -
it helps to be clear and concise. Click
here for
some suggestions.
-
Tell your Story -
when people hear about real human experiences,
it’s hard for them to stereotype. Personalising
the discussion/questions by talking about
yourself and your partner or your lesbian and
gay friends or family who wish to marry, will
help change hearts and minds.
-
Be Respectful - no
matter the position of your/the MP, remember to
be respectful to them and to their staff. An
aggressive or impolite approach will only harden
the MP and/or their staff to our community and
our issues.
-
DON’T get
distracted from your core goals/message - it is
really easy to get off on a tangent but
important to stay on message. If you stray, get
back to the subject of equal marriage.
-
DON’T put down
those who oppose equal marriage - sometimes,
it’s hard not to be emotional or speak harshly
about those who oppose our right to equality.
But if we condemn them, we may come across as
the ones who are intolerant of diverse
perspectives.
-
It’s OK to say “I
Don’t Know” - if you don’t know the answer to a
question, that’s no problem. Just say you’ll
look into it and get back later. After the
meeting, contact Australian Marriage Equality
and we’ll find the answer for you.
-
DON’T FORGET TO
ASK FOR THEIR SUPPORT!!! - don’t forget to ask
the MP if you can count on their support for
equal marriage in the future. If they say they
will support equal marriage, ask them to speak
with their colleagues to help deliver equal
marriage.
4. After the meeting:
-
Report Back - send
us an email at
ame@australianmarriageequality.com. The
report that you provide from your meeting with
your MP can make all the difference.
-
Thank the MP - if
you had a positive meeting, drop a line (either
by mail or email) to the MP, thanking them and
reminding them of any commitment that they may
have made to you.
-
Keep in touch - if
you see an interesting article, forward it to
the MP to keep yourself (and equal marriage) in
their mind.
LETTER WRITING TIPS:
The best place to send a letter to your MP is to
their electorate office (addresses are available
by
clicking here).
However, if you prefer, you can send a letter to
their Canberra office:
(name of MP)
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
No
matter where you send the letter, here are a few
tips:
-
Provide a return
address and let them know that you live in their
electorate. This will provide you with much
greater credibility in their eyes.
-
Keep the letter
relatively brief - no more than 1½ pages - typed
or hand written.
-
As has been
suggested above for meetings, illustrate the key
messages by telling your story in your own
words. This will have a much greater impact than
any pre-written communication they receive in
the office.
-
Be respectful and
give the MP the benefit of the doubt. Whatever
information you have about an MP's position, it
may not be accurate and they may be open to
changing their mind. They will respond better to
a calm, polite letter - remember passion
can be expressed with reason.
-
As is the case
with meetings, don’t put down those who oppose
equal marriage. You could be insulting someone
close to that person - not an endearing tactic.
-
Ask for their
support and request a reply - you can provide
them with your phone number and/or email address
to make it simple for them to get back to you.
When you do hear back, please share the response
with AME - we need to know what’s happening.
PHONE CALL TIPS:
There are two options available to you on phone
calls - either call and simply register your opinion
with the MPs electorate officer or request a call
back from the Member of Parliament (phone numbers
are available by
clicking here).
If it is your intention to speak with the MP:
-
Take the
opportunity to think about what you intend to
say and perhaps jot down a couple of key points
for yourself to ensure that you deliver your
message in a short amount of time.
-
Follow the tips
outlined above for meetings - tell your story,
but remember to keep it brief; be respectful and
listen to what the MP has to say; use your key
messages and make sure you get those points
across.
-
Don’t forget to
ask for their support - if they say they support equal marriage, ask them to speak
with their colleagues to help deliver equal marriage.
FOLLOWING UP:
If you have already had contact with your MP on this
issue, please let us know. We need feedback in order
to build support.
If you are willing to keep in touch with your MP on
this issue, there are some amazing opinion-editorial
articles in newspapers from time to time. If you
spot a good one, pass it along to your MP.
EQUAL MARRIAGE - KEY MESSAGES
Although personal stories are
more powerful, here are some general ideas based on
certain values to get you started:
-
Marriage is a realisation of
love through commitment. The government should
not be able to say who should marry whom.
-
Denying lovers the right to
marry is against human dignity.
-
The right to marry in your
own country is at the heart of citizenship. When
we have thousands of Australian citizens who are
denied full citizenship, citizenship itself is
weakened.
-
It is often claimed that marriage
is a
Christian or Jewish institution when, in fact,
marriage pre-dates both these religions. At any
rate, most marriages in
Australia occur through civil
ceremonies. Legal marriage as provided by the
Marriage Act should not discriminate against any
particular group of Australians or impose a
particular religious view on those who do not
share it.
-
Some ministers of
religion seek the right to marry same-sex couples.
Freedom of religion demands that these ministers
should also be able to conduct marriages in
accordance with their beliefs.
-
Australia not only insults
its own citizens by refusing to recognise their
same-sex marriages, it also insults the citizens
of other countries in legal same-sex marriages when they visit our country.
-
There have been no
detrimental consequences where same-sex marriage
has been introduced and support for same-sex
marriage increased markedly among voters within
months of its commencement in each of those
countries.
-
Most Australians support equal marriage. A Galaxy poll
published on 21 June 2007 showed 57% in favour, 37% against
and 6% undecided.
-
The right to marry gives
greater social and legal security to your
family. Denying this to some families while
giving it to others creates insecurity within
society and weakens the fundamental Australian
values of equality and belonging.
-
Remember key ideas: Love and
Commitment, Equality, Respect, Dignity,
Security, Belonging and Citizenship.
QUESTIONS? CONCERNS?
If you have questions or concerns feel free to
contact us at
ame@australianmarriageequality.com
