FDS Insight Magazine Jun - Sep 2023

18 Service, assisting women to transition into new accommodation and new phases of their life. ‘I’m actually a licensed estate agent,’ she whispers. ‘I didn’t include that in the book because people hate real estate. I was a hopeless one, I never made any money.’ But for this idea, Ryan had business cards and letterhead ready to go. ‘I was so passionate about it.’ Still, she kept hovering over the United MSIC website. As a fairly new kid on the block, she didn’t know that many people in her area. She figured running for council – on the single issue of a safe injecting facility – would be the best way to shake people out. Ryan decided to run as an independent candidate for Langridge Ward in the City of Yarra in the 2016 local government election. She signed up 15 minutes shy of the deadline. ‘I put my 50 bucks down. And I was shocked – the returns officer said, ‘Good luck. I’ve been living in this area for years. You’re absolutely right about this.’ Turns out she was on to something. Ryan started with three campaign T- shirts, 1,000 flyers and eight posters. She barrelled through with no focus groups, no strategic plan, no marketing, no social media, no money. (Campaign colour: red. Why? ‘I just really like the colour red.’) Certain she had no hope of winning, Ryan didn’t bother organising scrutineers to attend the vote count. But despite her political naivety, or maybe because of it, she ended up with 4.63% of the primary vote. Perhaps more tellingly, she also nabbed 791 second preferences – which meant ‘after voting for their rusted-on candidate, many people gave their second vote to an unknown candidate and an MSIC trial.’ People took notice. Ryan started to forge contacts and get a good read on how much support was out there for a safe injecting facility. ‘I think I was fair. I was upfront,’ says Ryan. ‘Here’s my phone number. This is where I live and this is what I think. It’s not a brain fart. It’s actually something that’s steeped in evidence. Let’s talk … convince me otherwise, or let’s find middle ground.’ Judy Ryan approached the challenge of igniting people’s politics a bit like ‘picking a scab’. Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian Ryan’s interest in people made her a born retail politician – she went on to stand as a candidate for the Reason party in the Victorian state electorate of Richmond in 2018; and again for Reason in the federal electorate of Melbourne in 2019. Her shiny (red) moving company business cards are still sitting in their box. She approached the challenge of igniting people’s politics a bit like