For over a decade now, our dear friend Catherine has bravely dived into the mess and mystery of Australian politics, and sought to find truth and understanding in it, and to share with us all what she found at Cate Speaks.
Catherine passed away unexpectedly earlier this year, and we feel her loss keenly. Her husband wrote that “she was the most wonderful, vibrant, beautiful, thoughtful, caring, passionate person and I cannot believe she is gone“, and we echo that sentiment. She was smart and funny and compassionate and kind and generous and just wanted the best for everyone, and there was no one else like her. One of her most prized possessions was a pendant her husband gave her, with the words “Exuberance is Beauty” written upon it. It was far from the only way in which she was a beautiful person, a beautiful soul, but it is that exuberance, that energy that we honour here.
According to physics, energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed. In that spirit, we invite you to join us here, in this transformed continuation of Catherine’s energy and passion, as we continue this important and useful work.
We shall try our very best to prove worthy of her.
I was looking for info on the candidates, bemoaning the fact that I couldn’t rely on Catherine for resources and advices. And then my search on one elusive candidate brought me to your entry about them, and this is how I discovered, completely by accident, that Catherine is still here: in the words of her friends.
I did not know that this website existed, and I am, as always, moved by the sheer number of people keeping her flame bright and strong.
Thank you for the kind words, Bruno. It’s a pleasure and privilege.
i like what you have here, this informative political appraisal assessment website. just had a read, just now, about CATHERINE, and i am pleased that this website is here to view, and has been dedicated to what CATHERINE loved in life and what pleased her in doing this type of thing in relation to Politics in Her Memory of her passing. the changers Politics can make to our Lives, for the good, Catherine would have wished, i feel. i know i am on the same Page as Catherine. i once used to live/work at the Space Base (Pine Gap), there is a close association there with the Kennedy Space Center, Canaveral, Florida USA, i am a Kennedy Lover, and that goes back to JFK’s assassination when i was a little Boy, and his Brother BOBBY as well, the 3 of them John, Bobby, and Edward—-TED. that’s Senator Edward Kennedy, 47 years as Senator, till 2009 when he passed. in all those years as Senator if there was a tricking one happening in this Beautiful World of ours we live in and share, both side of Politics would be around sitting in Kennedy office talking to KENNEDY, to get HIS advise and to sort it all out, and the right way to go about it all. so in saying all that, never President he was, but i wonder who was running America/World really in all those years, he’s not there anymore, look at the mess, the pickle, now, wise-man gone, Kennedy’s so good. i just wrote these words for CATHERINE.have to put this piece in here, to add, the only piece nuclear fusion i like to see is in Catherine morning photos on here, it’s called the ”SUN”, and i have wished all my life, the rest of those we all know about were all gone, none existence, that would be a good feeling to have. to stand for the SENATE now is not about Allen or RIDGEWAY, i just want good for ALL, and there is a MAN in Russia upsetting me so much right now, what do we do here, with him, don’t know. KIND REGARDS: TO YOU ALL.who read this, Love to Catherine
Thank you for the kind words, Allen, and wishing you the best of luck on Saturday.
As someone who reliably starts searching for candidate information no more than a few days before every election for the last (too many) years, I just as reliably found myself halfway through one of Cate’s writeups thinking “I should just start here next time”.
Imagine my delight when that somehow worked for local council elections and I realised the source of this wisdom and wit must be only a few blocks away!
I’m truly sorry to hear of her loss, but a heartfelt thanks to Maz and Loki for carrying on in her stead, from another random on the web (and occasionally along the Merri).
Thank you DB. It’s an honour to carry on in her name.
I don’t really know how to contact you guys except in a comment, but I just wanted to let you know I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts, and they’ve informed my own opinions on this year’s election. I also have a passion for Australian politics, and a pretty similar stance. There are very few people willing to go to the level of effort and research that is required to understand the ballot. I’ve turned my research into a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nYysou3CBs And I’d be honoured if you took a look, or shared the clip in any way. Thanks.
Thank you Anika, that was a goddam delight! 🙂
This site is so fabulous! It has become my primary go-to in trying to sort out my preferences for the election on Saturday. I greatly appreciate all the work you have put into sourcing and summarising information on each of the candidates. In fact, the order of my preferences changed after reading your update on the T group for the senate. Thank you – and to Catherine for having the skill, foresight, passion to create the site and the blogs.
This comment doesn’t need to be published, I just wanted to say thanks for all your hard work on this excellent resource. I first stumbled upon Cate Speaks in the leadup to the last election, and stupidly didn’t bookmark it, so I spent a few days googling ‘Cat politics blog’ (which needless to say didn’t return very helpful results!) and tonight, in the middle of laboriously scouring candidates’ websites, I finally found you! Thanks for continuing Catherine’s work, thanks for serving the community in this way, and thanks for your openness about your own values, biases and preferences as well. I don’t always share the same values, but I do always find your commentary insightful (and fun… the Eurovision references were lost on me anyway!).
How wonderful to discover this blog! I loved Cate Speaks and wondered what had happened to it. I started thinking about my Senate today. Very late I know but I know mostly how I will vote. But Cate’s blog helped me work out some of the more obscure candidates positions. She was so witty, fair and wise. So sad to hear of her passing. Many thanks to everyone involved in this continuance of the spirit of Cate. Tim Hogan, Bacchus Marsh.
What a wonderful resource to stumble upon. You’ve made my cramming to find out who these mysterious independent candidates are at the last minute quite entertaining. Never heard of Cate but looks like I wished I did. I’m grateful for the work that has continued in her honour. Many thanks.
THANK-YOU for this. I am a one finger typist and REALLY appreciate all your hard work. I was really dismayed when I heard of Cate’s death as I believe I could have loved her dearly and I DID appreciate her political posts very much. I am Ingrid Mary on FB.
Thanks for such a lovely comment. We hope we can do justice to her mammoth efforts – there are two of us, and it’s a huge amount of work. We don’t know how she did it all on her own for so many years.