Over the years Hugo Halliday has worked with a number of Members of Parliament from different levels of Government and States. A lot of our work largely focuses on creating material to be distributed throughout electorates. Every MP understands the importance of keeping the community informed about their work, not just for the benefit of community. The MP’s profile should be kept fresh and alive so at election time there is already some level of positive recognition.
Most MP’s will send out a community newsletter, which is great because it enables the sharing of multiple bits of information at one time. However, MP’s must also consider the benefits of more focused, topic-specific materials. Such materials give voting parties the impression of a selfless MP who truly has the interests of the community at heart. Some materials, namely those that focus on emergency services or procedures, are important to the public information role of the Government and should be considered a crucial part of being an elected official.
It’s not necessarily that MP’s don’t want to put out more unique material, but rather that they don’t know what they should and can issue. We regularly get questioned for material suggestions, so to make it easier we’ve compiled a brief list below to help MP’s and their offices.
- Local history: Either a single ‘general history’ brochure or a series on key historical topics (buildings/icons/military connections/notable people etc.).
- Emergency Services: Can be done as a general flyer or as a usable ‘in case of emergency’ pocket-sized material. Include information on how to and who to contact during an emergency or in times of need and CPR procedures.
- Bully Prevention: Informational brochure on bully prevention (including cyber bullying), focusing parts for both children and their parents. Great if there are a lot of families in the electorate.
- ANZAC Day: ANZAC Day is an extremely important event that brings out the patriotic side of the Australian community. Brochures, flyers and booklets that inform the community of local services and provide both local and general information about the event and its history are always well received.
- Local Charities: A brochure which focuses on local charities, including their history, needs (donations/volunteers) and stories about their specific achievements. Such a brochure not only encourages community spirit and informs the community about local charities they can be involved in, but also gives the MP the opportunity to list any funding they’ve helped secure for mentioned charities.
- Celebrating Multiculturalism: A brochure or booklet that celebrates the different ethnicities within an electorate. Can include interviews with different community members from various backgrounds; historical recounts of immigration trends from specific countries and pictures of the MP participating in citizenship events.
- Fit for Life – Seniors: A brochure about the importance of physical activity for seniors including physical activity recommendations, a list of free physical activity programs available in the local area (and Government initiatives) and a healthy recipe from a local chef/nutritionist. Great for electorates with large numbers of retirees.
- Fit for Life – Kids: A brochure about the importance of physical activity for children including physical activity recommendations and games, a list of free physical activity programs available in the local area (and Government initiatives) and healthy snack ideas. Great for electorates with lots of families.
- Local Recreation: A brochure about recreational activities and locations in the local area. Including parks; reserves, playgrounds, rivers, local pools, walking tracks, sporting fields, bike tracks, beaches etc.
- Environmentally Friendly: A Brochure about how to be more environmentally friendly at home. Including how to compost; recycling guide, how to create a vegetable garden, and water and electricity saving tips.
- Charity Events: Flyers can be sent out for specific charity events an MP will be a part of, either encouraging the community to take part too or inviting them to join an event. Some events may include Clean Up Australia Day; Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, RSPCA’s Cupcake Day, Earth Hour, Movember, Red Shield Appeal, Winter Sleep-out, Dry July etc.
- Water Safety: A brochure or flyer about water safety including CPR procedures, emergency contact details and a guide on how to be safe around water. Particularly useful for the summer months or electorates near a beach or water way, or if there a high number of pools in homes. Such a flyer would be more useful with a magnet so it could be kept for future reference.
- Public Service Careers: A brochure or booklet on the types of career paths available in the public service. Serves to educate community on career paths available to them and inspire younger generations to expand their horizons. Some careers include emergency services (Police/Paramedics); defence force personnel, nurses, teachers, jobs in Courts, jobs in Parliament, jobs at local councils etc.
- Local Schools: A brochure about local schools in the electorate. Aimed at promoting local education standards, providing the community with knowledge of each school’s history, and helping parents discover the various options for where to send their children.
- Online Safety: A brochure about best practises for ensuring online safety. Can be aimed specifically at the elderly or parents with children, or simply be an accumulative safety guide. Would include information about cookies, data, identifying scam emails and monitoring children online.
- Responsible Pet Ownership: A brochure or flyer about responsible pet ownership. Including informing the community about ethical places to purchase animals, how to properly look after animals, how to choose an animal suitable for your family, legal responsibilities for owning an animal (registration/animal cruelty), and feeding guides.
This list is not extensive and a quick glance into the key issues and demographics of an electorate will give a better indication of what material will be best received. From our experience, no matter what the demographic, community members love brochures and booklets about their local history. Every history-based brochure we have helped MP’s put out has been highly commended by the community, and regularly MP’s receive requests for more copies.
If you’d like to discuss putting out topic-specific material in your electorate, contact us today. We have many more ideas and would be more than happy to work with you to ensure your image is positively embraced by the local community.
You can view some of our past work here.