Dear friends,

Right now we've got some big decisions to make, and we need to make them together, as a community.

Sometime before the end of the year, Australians will go to the polls to choose the next government of our country. We all know how it works: the parties will posture, out-manoeuvre and outspend, while the pundits speculate and the voters alternate between trying to make sense of it all and just tuning out altogether.

But for the first time there's something new in Australian politics this election year - you, the independent, connected movement of people for a progressive Australia. The next six months will be critical to our country's future, and we need your vote now to decide how we can best make a difference.

http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/BigDecisions

GetUp's people-powered experiment began just over 18 months ago, when few imagined anyone but wealthy donors, party power-brokers or media barons could change Australian politics. Since then we've worked together to help stop child refugees from being detained in Nauru, achieved the first major budget increase for the ABC in more than a decade and put the political spotlight firmly on the issues we care about - from climate change to Indigenous rights, justice for David Hicks and defending the voting rights of every eligible Australian.

Lately we've been hearing from GetUp members across the country about why this election matters to you, and what sort of role you want us to play. These are big decisions; we can't make them alone, so we're making it easy for every GetUp member to be heard right now.  

Tell us why you believe the next election is important to Australia, what issues you want us to focus on and whether we should sit on the sidelines of the election campaign - or take our collective gloves off to fight as effectively as possible for the issues we care about.

http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/BigDecisions

Thanks for speaking up,
 
The GetUp team
 
PS: We can't wait to hear from you so we can report back on your priorities and our next steps by early next week! Be quick to give us input and help set the course for our future now.