Jo Dyer: Independents Day

With an increasing number of Australians turning away from the two major political parties, independents are tipped to play a crucial role in the upcoming election.

Jo Dyer, literary curator and film and theatre producer, has recently entered the political arena, running for the South Australian seat of Boothby as an independent. In her new book, Burning Down the House, she argues that Australians are hungry for new leadership and radically different models of politics. For Dyer, the rise of independents is the rise of ‘ordinary Australians determined to burn it all down and build something new.’ But is this wave of independents a sign of imminent revolution, or of an increasingly self-motivated and fractured political system? 

In this Fifth Estate event with host Sally Warhaft, Dyer discusses the growing disillusionment with bipartisan politics, and the power of independent politicians beholden to no one but their electorates.

The bookseller for this event is Hill of Content Bookshop.