“Are there any local voters?”, one of the officials called out just a short while ago at the Bourke Street Primary School. “Yes”, I declared and was moved instantly from half-way down the queue to the very heard of the queue.
“Sweet”, I thought to myself, remembering it was the same during the NSW Election earlier this year. Thanks to a largely young, itinerant population, there was hardly anyone (it seemed) in the queue this morning who was actually enrolled in the federal seat of Sydney.
Outside the school there was just a lone-Liberal in an overwhelmingly Green-Labor conflagration of people offering how to vote cards. As I walked through the group I politely said, “No thankyou” to everyone who offered me their paperwork. I mean, if you know who you want to vote for it’s pretty simple, isn’t it? As I walked through I noticed hardly anyone had taken the paperwork, which makes me think everyone voting at the time I was there, had already clearly made up their mind.
“It won’t be long now”, a father said to his young son who was sitting on a seat inside, waiting patiently. As the little boy got up he went over to pat a dog which was sitting inside, avoiding the outside rain. When he asked his father why there was a dog inside, another bloke joked the dog was voting. Everyone laughed, reflecting the bouyant mood I sensed. I don’t think it was a drover’s dog, by the way.
I took the easy option for the Senate, voting 1 above the line, but found the House of Representatives a little more difficult. Once I’d voted for my preferred #1 candidate, it was then a case of “voting backwards” from the candidate I least wanted. “I don’t like them”, I thought to myself, “but I don’t like them even more”.
A far easier choice was the sausage sandwich with the lot, I bought at the stall outside. But of course being in Surry Hills, it’s not just a snag, some onions, and tomato sauce on white bread. A “sausage with the lot” at my local school meant a regular breakfast sausage on a bed of hommous, onion, BBQ sauce and some middle-eastern flat bread. “I wonder if that might be symbolic of some broader level of change in the community?”, I thought to myself as I handed over my money…
The Glebe Public School sausage sizzle had only the traditional white bread sausage sanga – delish by all accounts. So a distinct lack of symbolism here (strange with all the hippies about), but then they did have the markets to contend with.
My methodology was similar to yours for both the House of Reps and the Senate. I voted below the line (1-79!) on the senate paper and it was difficult to decide who to put last – far too many choices for who I didn’t like.
I was a bit surprised to see Dr Karl on my senate paper and, without thinking about it too much, put a big, happy ‘1’ right above his name. If it weren’t for him I would probably have voted for ‘Senator On Line.’ I guess I just get excited by all the choices :)
You missed the last bus? I missed the last train. Rode as far as central, found that none were due out, then walked to town hall and waited an hour for the bus. Got home just after 3, in bed by 4. Ugh. Good night tho.
Chicken! It’s such fun voting 1 to 15 million below the line on the Senate paper, puting the Fred Nile crew, Family First, the Shooters and all those other freaks last.
Dr Karl did figure high in the polling though.
Bye bye Prime Miniscule. We’ll be so glad you’re finally gone after too many years.
Carol – I would have expected vegetarian sausages at the very least at Glebe.
Mark – In bed by 4? Ugh
Ian – I agree with you above numbering below the line, as I used to do it to. You gotta admit though there’s a lot of wasted energy in deciding which party is the worst, which is second worst, which is third worst etc.
I was gutted to discover that the Australia Street Primary school opposite my regular polling place did not have any sort of sausage sizzle this year. WTF? Every local and federal election previously they’ve been there.
So disappointing.
Andrew – This is outrageous. I think a terse letter to the Sydney Morning Herald is the only answer.