Candidate Endorsement Process

CANDIDATE ENDORSEMENT COMMITTEE

Leigh Cox
A federal public servant with social policy experience across government and non-government settings. Leigh has lived in the ACT for more than a decade and resides in Belconnen with his wife and two young children. He was a member of the ACT Greens from 2014 to 2017. He joined IFC in February 2024, and has since become the party's Secretary.

Robert Knight
A former Army officer who is now working as a policy officer in the local government sector and has lived in Canberra for most of his life. Rob is a former political candidate for federal and ACT elections for the Canberra Progressives. He joined the IFC Board on inception alongside Thomas Emerson and Clare Carnell, and has since become the party's Registered Officer.

Danielle Glatz
A small business owner who has lived in the ACT for 10 years. Danielle became a member of the IFC Board after connecting with Thomas Emerson while working as a volunteer in Senator David Pocock's office.

Malcolm Baalman
A former political adviser, public servant, and policy and advocacy adviser to a national NGO. Malcolm was invited to join the Committee on the basis of his experience working in the ACT Legislative Assembly from 1994 to 2001 as principal policy adviser to independent MLA, Michael Moore.

CANDIDATE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS As a platform for independents, we don’t believe it is our role to “select” candidates to represent our communities. We believe this responsibility sits firmly with the community. Instead, we have an endorsement process. Independents for Canberra aims to transform how politics is done in the ACT. We have codified the change we seek through our 10 shared principles. Our endorsement process is designed to assess how aligned each potential candidate is to these shared principles, which are non-optional expectations of our candidates. This is the process devised and administered by the Candidate Endorsement Committee: 1. Prospective candidates submit a nomination pack, including a police check, credit check, proof of residency and two personal referees. 2. The Committee interviews all prospective candidates to discuss their views and past actions in relation to the principles. 3. If no clear conflict with the principles is found, each prospective candidate is given the opportunity to speak at a Community Town Hall where they can share their vision and respond to questions from people in their electorate. 4. Endorsement is then provided if the Committee is confident the candidate is fully committed to the principles. This assessment is based on the candidate's personal history, their interview and feedback from Community Town Hall attendees. The Committee may disendorse any candidate who fails to demonstrate commitment to the 10 shared principles at any time.