Damien Mason posted a response to my post on Technology and the South Australian Election from Gay Thompson, the sitting member for the seat of Reynell. I’m going to repost sections of that response here and provide some analysis and commentary.

Damien

Thank you for your message.

Because of the impending election it is important that all information provided to the community about the policies of the party of which I am a member are clear and consistent. For this reason, and especially because many of the questions you ask relate to powers held by the Federal government, I have forwarded your message to our policy coordinators.

OK stop right there. Of the questions I posed only questions 6 and 7 could be construed as federal policy and all that was being asked was a personal opinion. The others were either personal questions designed to get a picture of a candidate’s use of technology or South Australian state issues. There was no attempt to answer the specific policy questions.

The IT I have available is provided by the Department of Finance as part of the package they supply (phones, photocopiers etc) to enable members of Parliament to do their jobs. Within the choices that are available to members, I chose a laptop rather than a PC. I also make full use of an HTC Diamond for emails, calendar etc.

OK

While I recognise that some of my constituents may like to make use of the new technologies for communication my investigations indicate that this is a very small number. Indeed, you are the first to seek information on the topic. However, I monitor the situation in order to provide relevant information and to maximise my accessibility to my constituents.

Few respondents to my recent survey of constituents provided an email address although they were invited to do so. Emails to my office from constituents are also less frequent than letters or personal visits with telephone calls (with landline contact details), by far the main method of contact. I use web based material such as the City of Onkaparinga Social Atlas for information. This material shows that in general the suburbs I represent have lower internet connection than either the City of Onkaparinga or the Adelaide Statistical Division. I have included the site for you.

http://atlas.id.com.au/DefaultMap.aspx?id=119&pg=2010&c=3070&t=10075#empty-anchor

What this is saying is that not many of the constituents in Reynell have the internet or, if they do, they don’t choose to connect with their local member this way. Therefore it is more productive to use traditional means of communication. I don’t buy this. The penetration of Facebook alone in the Adelaide region is huge and I suspect that the constituents in Reynell are no exception.

Accordingly, I use my limited resources to provide regular communication to my constituents in the traditional formats.

Being able to communicate electronically and in real time surely is more efficient than more manual processes and therefore a better use of resources.

Other information is available through the government and party websites. I contribute financially to the operation of the ALP website so that constituents who choose this method can access policy information. I am also pleased that recent government initiatives will allow better internet access through Adam to some areas in the South.

Use of static websites that allow one way broadcast communication.

I cannot commit to a time frame for additional responses as many people ask questions on a vast array of topics at this time and it is important that each individual get a clear response consistent with the party’s plans for action if elected.

Yes this is a lot of information for one elector to ask and yes this is a busy time.

I hope the information I have provided assists you.

Gay Thompson MP
MEMBER FOR REYNELL

From this we can glean that Ms Thompson uses a laptop and a smartphone, has a knowledge of email and of static websites. She does not seem to have a knowledge of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. There is nothing in the response above that would indicate a willingness to promote good technology policy within government.

For an incumbent in a safe Labor seat this is probably enough to win but it shows a complacency that would be vulnerable to an opponent who can work smarter to engage with the electorate. It will be interesting to see what the other candidates can do.

Tags: candidate, election, politics, reynell, technology