14 hours Ago By William Davis
Duke Wong has travelled Queensland pitching his vision for “crowd thinking” politics, at times sleeping in his car and taking 20¢ showers at rest stops. Campaigning for a Senate seat, the 50-year-old says he’s spoken to more than 1000 voters in almost 40 towns and cities over the past 13 months. “I don’t think I’ve got a chance,” he tells this masthead on a concrete bench outside Brisbane Square Library.
Duke Wong is campaigning for one of six Senate seats up for grabs in Queensland. Credit: William Davis “I’m an unendorsed, ungrouped independent who nobody knows. “But there is a path .
.. If I can get my message out to all Queenslanders, once they hear this, I will get 450,000 votes.
” Wong isn’t the most polished communicator, but he is animated and passionate about his idea for a new type of politics returning “power to the people”. He says he would create a digital platform where voters could share their views on all major issues affecting the state, enabling politicians to crowdsource their decision-making. “So in the first three to six months, I’d create a system where I can separate ideas into three tiers,” he says.
Asked if the platform would be different from existing public consultation channels, or whether voters would really engage in the nitty-gritty detail of legislation, he insists the answer is yes. “To all the other politicians, you’ve tried to represent the best way you can under the old system, under the traditional way of doing things,” Wong says. ‘I can harness the power of the people and use their crowd thinking to think through societal problems and come up with the best decisions.
’ Duke Wong, candidate for the Senate in Queensland “We don’t live in a pen-and-paper society any more. We can change the way we listen to the people. In our hyper-connected world, we can listen more carefully to the people who are struggling.
” Wong has spent more time campaigning than many major party-endorsed candidates. He’s done that with no staff, and his shoestring Senate bid has eaten up about $15,000 of his savings. The 50-year-old considers it money well spent.
“I was actually tent camping at caravan parks, sleeping in my car at rest stops where there were showers,” he says. “For a campaign that is 13 months long, that’s cheap ..
. I can afford it, and I’m passionate about what I’m doing.” Wong grew up in the small town of Millmerran, south-west of Toowoomba, and formerly worked as a bureaucrat in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
In recent months, he’s been on the ground in Brisbane, wearing his embroidered campaign shirt and putting up posters along Queen Street Mall or near Parliament House, speaking to anyone prepared to hear him out. “It’s about representation,” he says. “I’m passionate about this idea .
.. I think it’s a great idea.
People that I speak to think it’s a great idea.” Almost 60 candidates are competing for six Queensland Senate seats in 2025. Wong is one of just four not representing an organised group.
Dr Paul Williams, an associate professor of politics and journalism at Griffith University, says it’s almost impossible for independents to break into the upper house without name recognition or major-party backing. He believes One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts is favoured to take the most competitive seat. “The first five are pretty much guaranteed Labor, LNP and Greens .
.. It’s that sixth spot that’s going to be up for grabs,” Williams says.
“Those independents have no chance. “The first five are pretty much guaranteed Labor, LNP and Greens ..
. It’s that sixth spot that’s going to be up for grabs,” Dr Paul Williams says of the Senate contest in Queensland. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen “It’s the same reason why independents fail to win in the lower house; if they don’t have a critical mass of support, they’re not going to win.
” Despite acknowledging that the odds are stacked against him, Wong is taking the bid seriously. His website is already advertising for a potential chief of staff in Canberra. “The reason why I believe I’m the perfect candidate is that I don’t have an inkling in politics,” he says.
“I believe it doesn’t take the [sharpest] tool in the tool shed to do this job. What it does take is someone ..
. to listen to the people, to come up with ideas from the people. “I can harness the power of the people and use their crowd thinking to think through societal problems and come up with the best decisions moving the country forward.
” He says his vision for Queensland would end divisive politics. “We’ve got 75 other senators potentially doing the same old thing the same old way – dividing the country, dividing the people – whereas I’m trying to unite the people.” Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights.
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