Meeting your local Member of Parliament (MP) is the most powerful thing you can do to influence then. This is also true of meeting the Candidates for your electorate in the lead up to an election. As the saying says, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and personal contact is always more powerful!

Follow this simple guide to make a difference today

Step 1

Find your federal MP's contact details on the APH website. There are similar pages for finding your state politicians. Google is your friend when it comes to finding candidates in your electorate. 

Step 2

Ask for a meeting

Phone or drop in to your MP’s or candidates office and make an appointment to meet with him or her. State what you want to discuss.

Or if email is your thing, here's a draft email you could use.

Haven't heard back? Then don't forget the Four P's - Persistence, Persistence, Persistence and Persistence!

Once you get an appointment, you may wish to organise a group of locals to attend or just go on your own.

Register your meeting using this form so we can keep a track of our networks engagement and impact.

Step 3

Prepare for the meeting

Prepare a few dot points about what you want to say just so you feel more confident. You don’t need to do lots of research and be an expert! 

• Have clear messages and asks
• Cover 2-3 issues max. Assume you have 30 minutes - time goes fast! Here is an agenda template you might like to use
• Research the background of the MP or candidate: What do they stand for? Do they have children? What are their interests?
• Prepare a 1-2 page summary to leave with the MP - you can use this one here
  
• Prepare some talking points - points relevant to the Under Pressure report and 2025 federal election asks are here
• Feel free to contact the Parents for Climate team for support.

Step 4

Hold the meeting. Yay, this is the best bit!!

Ask for a photo with the MP and post it to our Facebook Group after the meeting!

Step 5

Let us know how you go. Tell us about your experience using this short form. This will help us follow up and track progress with your MP / candidate.

Remember: Always keep it friendly

Australian Parents for Climate Action seeks to achieve climate action by building long-term and constructive relationships with our leaders, not by shouting from the rooftops. So always be polite and respectful, and remember, most MP's are parents as well!

What to ask for?

Parents for Climate is running a campaign to put our Cost of Living Report, Under Pressure, in front of as many MP's and candidates as possible.

We have four high level asks, which are also detailled in the Report:

1. Expand low-cost finance to take pressure off families and slash climate pollution
2. Roll out rooftop solar and storage for all social housing
3. Ensure all new homes are affordable, healthy and all-electric
4. Ensure renters live in healthy, comfortable and affordable homes

We have created a simple and effective pledge that you can ask your MP and candidates to sign to demonstrate their support for our asks.

A digital version of the pledge is here: https://www.parentsforclimate.org/candidatepledge
A printable pledge can be downloaded here

Are you meeting with an MP or candidate who thinks they're strong on climate? Then get ambitious, personalise it, and get into the detail. Ask for more and ask for it faster - it’s what is needed to ensure a safe climate for our kids! For example;

• Find out what rebates apply to you. Are they enough to make clean energy tech affordable?
• Do they offer interest-free loans or other payment schemes?
• What’s their plan for gas-free homes?
• What are they doing for renters?
• Are there enough EV chargers to support the switch? What about when you go on holiday? What if you have to park on the street?

Need more help?

You don’t need to do lots of research and be an expert, but a bit of preparation never hurts.

1. Check out our detailed meeting checklist.
2. You can refer to the slides presented in our February 2025 MP Engagement workshop
3. We held a dedicated training session, with special guest former MP Rob Oakeshott. Rob is a wealth of information so check out the recording!
4. In 2021 we hosted Sue Dwyer in a fantastic Meet Your MP training session. This session was more specific to the skills of holding the meeting itself. You can find Sue by starting the video at 8:44 and stopping at 48:00.