How To: Meet with your MP Your MP works for you. Its their job to - PDF document

How To: Meet with your MP Your MP works for you. It’s their job to represent your views, so it’s important that they know what those views are. Knowing that something is affecting a constituent is a really powerful way to motivate and encourage MPs to do something about it in Parliament. Regardless of your MP’s party and regardless of whether you voted for them or not, they have to represent you and respond to your communications. Your MP may not always agree with you, and you them, and indeed they may represent you in ways that you do not agree with, but, it is still their job to explain to you why. This is a crash course on how to run your MP meeting - from deciding what you want to say, to knowing how to answer tricky questions. We will cover five simple steps to making you meeting work.

How the MP meetings will work. Before the meeting ● Join the call 15 minutes in HopIn before hand to meet your FYA Representative ● Click the Zoom link in the chat for your break out room to enter the meeting During the meeting ● The FYA representative will start the meeting and introduce you - then handover to you to introduce yourself. ● Take notes ● Take a photo (remember to ask first!) - and share with us! After the meeting ● Come back to HopIn with your FYA representative for a quick 10 minute debrief ● Post your photo on social media using #localandvocal ● Share your media release (if you’ve decided to do this) ● Join us for a celebration event! Before we get into the details, here are the things to remember before, during and after your MP meeting!

1. Know the details. Max 30 minutes for your ● meeting. We will send you an email ● after today to connect you with the other people in your meeting. We will send you a link to the ● fact sheet to take into the meeting if you want it. Step 1: Know the details. We have sent you an email with the date, time and who you’re meeting with. Haven’t go this? Hold tight and we’ll send to you after this meeting - but if you don’t hear from us before tomorrow send Uma or Glen a message. Materials to take to the meeting / leave with the MP Keep an eye on your inbox for the fact sheet with key information about young people in your electorate that will be helpful for you. It will look like: What should I wear? Appearance isn’t everything, but presenting a clean and smart image will tell your MP that you’re serious about meeting with them. Arrival. Join your HopIn at least 15 minutes beforehand to talk about any last minute issues and double check the agenda. DO NOT BE LATE! Allocate roles to each attendee.

Decide beforehand who will: - Introduce the meeting; - Take notes; - Take the photo at the end of the meeting; and - Keep an eye on the time!

2. Decide what to say. Speak from your personal experience. ● Use a couple of evidence points from the fact ● sheet if you want to and it is helpful. Keep it simple. ● Steph 2: Decide what to say. You will only have about 20-30 minutes for your meeting. That’s about 5 minutes each. And you have to leave time for discussion - so...that means you have to get to the point quickly! No big speeches or lectures - keep it simple. Start by introducing yourself and thanking your MP for taking the time to meet with you. Remember to speak clearly, politely and audibly and maintain good eye contact. Why did you want to meet with them? Was it to talk to about how COVID-19 has impacted your life? How it affected your studies or work? Or maybe even your living arrangements? Did you want to talk about better access to mental wellbeing support? Or government responses to climate change? Was it because you’ve never understood the political system and wanted to have a way to be involved? Whatever your issues is GREAT. All of these and more are things you can discuss with your MP. BUT you need to remember to talk about something that has impacted you personally. Remember, you’re the expert in your experience - and really for this meeting that’s all you need. So if you want to talk to your MP about how you want to engage with politicians, share why this is the case. For example: - At school I’ve never learned anything about politics which means

- that I don’t really understand much about how it works; - I know that all the decisions are made by members of parliament, and that they affect me, but I don’t understand how that happens; and - I want to see more education about politics and how the decisions that impact my life are made. Listen to how your MP responds to what you are saying and tailor your message accordingly. Your MP might be completely new to the issue you are raising, so ensure that you can explain the basic background. But if they have a good understanding of the issue, you can skip over the basics. In addition to how much they understand about the issue, you also need to know what you MP thinks about it - so ask! This will help you to respond to any questions or misconceptions they may have.

3. Understand your MP. Who is your MP? ● How should you address them? ● Do they have any particular interests ● that you share? Step 3: Understand who you’re talking to. Before connecting with your MP it is always a good idea to know a bit about them - so that you can share relevant information and experiences with them. Soooo....give them a google - or look at the APH website to see a bit about them. Who is your MP: what’s their name, their party and their position. It will say the name of your MP in your calendar invite - so we’ve got this bit covered for you. How should you address them? If you’re in doubt just address them as Mr or Ms - but don’t stress either way cos usually they’ll start of by saying ‘Just call me Shona’. Do they have any interests that you share: If you want to you could give them a bit of a Google to understand more about them - find out what their interests are, what issues they are passionate about - what do you have in common?

4. If you want to ask for... ● To raise an ask during Question Time ● To vote for or against a Bill A quote or photo to share with ● media Or ask them how they can help ● you! Step 4: OPTIONAL - You don’t have to, but asking your MP to do something can make the meeting feel more purposeful. Be clear about what you might want the politician to do. This may include: To raise an ask during Question Time: ask your MP to ● pre-arrange a question to ask of a Minister about a specific policy or decision made by Government in Parliament Question Time. To take action and vote for or against a particular Bill that is ● being considered in parliament. Or you could suggest amendments to a particular Bill - be clear about the changes you think need to be made. A quote or photo to share with media ● Also, don't be afraid to ask what else the politician might be ● able to do for you! Be brief and to the point in requesting what you would like your MP to do; try to demonstrate why taking such action would benefit their constituents and their electorate.

5. Wrapping Up. Confirm what will happen next ● (e.g. that FYA will send them a fact sheet and the photo from the call) Say thank you! ● Step 5: End the meeting. When it's getting close to the agreed end time you could use the following structure: - Confirm the actions (if you’ve asked for them) - Thank the Parliamentarian for their time and support - Say farewell!

Tips + Tricks. Practice if it helps ● Make it a conversation. ● Remember that they’re there because they are ● interested in you. Don’t worry if you don’t know. ● Take a photo and send it to us - and your MP! ● Come to the debrief after! ● If you need support, message your FYA rep during ● the meeting. Practice beforehand. Have a rehearsal beforehand to practice speaking the points you want to make and how to deal with an MP who may be sidetracking the meeting. Make it a conversation: Rather than thinking of your meeting simply as about extracting a promise from your MP, think of it as building a relationship with them on a human level. Engage them in a discussion of the issues. Ask them what they think about the issues you are raising. You might be impressed by what they share about their concern or actions. Even if you don’t agree with their policy stance on a particular issue, you’re more likely to influence your MP if you can connect on a human level. Go into the relationship wanting to make friends with your MP. Don’t worry if you don’t know something. Remember you’re not there to be an expert on policy or anything

except your own experiences - if you don’t know something just say so. Taking photos: Organise for someone at the event to take good quality photos. These can be used for your own communications and for the media. Your MP’s staff may also take photos for their own communications. When taking photos that include members of the public, be mindful of asking their permission, especially if children are present. It’s a good idea to ask before you take the photo and explain how you would like to use it. You may also like to record some quotes from attendees at your event. Debrief: Come to the debrief after your meeting with your FYA representative to discuss afterwards what worked and didn’t work and tips for next time fill in the MP meeting report while the information is still fresh in your mind! If you need support for anything at all, just message your FYA representative. You can get their details before the meeting or just message them on HopIn.