| Newman returned - VOTAY's take |
| Written by Jason Wilson | |||||
| Monday, 17 March 2008 | |||||
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Sarah from The Voice of Today's Apathetic Youth gives her take on the BCC wash-up.
Yesterday, Brisbane returned Campbell Newman along with a Liberal majority council for the
first time in 15 years. Not that Labor could have been trusted to do a particularly good job; it was more a case of hoping for the lesser of two evils. On Thursday we got a call from our local Greens candidate, Daniel Krute, asking if we could help out by handing out how-to-vote cards, so we agreed to show up from 8-10am; we figured they must have been a bit desperate, seeing as we're not actually Greens members (yet- we're supporters for sure, but not members) and they only had our details because we volunteered to help out at the federal election in November. When we arrived at Ironside State School, there was a girl already there handing out Green HTV's- Rosie, the same one who'd done been at the polling place we worked at the federal election. She said she also wasn't a member but they'd called her to ask for their help and she'd agreed to do 8-10am as well. There was scarcely any need to have 3 of us at Ironside- it was incredibly quiet. Rosie said to us that heaps of people she'd spoken to over the last couple of days didn't even know there was an election on. It's been a bit like that, really... we found out today that one of our friends forgot to vote! Overall it's been a really lacklustre campaign. Anyway, we mostly amused ourselves by playing 'spot the Liberal'... and I arrived at the 'moccasin theory' of Liberal-spotting: Basically, any male dressed in a 'preppy' fashion, wearing moccasins, thigh-length shorts, usually with a belt, and a polo shirt, will refuse outright to take a Green HTV card. Lots of people take a Green HTV just to be polite, you can tell, but guys dressed this way will always refuse. While most of them wore moccasins, the theory seems to apply to males wearing other forms of preppy leather footwear- certain kinds of sandals and slides, but moccasins were definitely the most popular. Rosie didn't believe us, so we challenged her to offer an HTV to every guy dressed like that who came along over the next 15 minutes: all but one refused, and Rosie even admitted that the one who took it probably only did so because she literally jumped out in front of him! Plus his polo shirt was kind of old and not nearly 'preppy' enough. Obviously a Liberal voter who's a bit off his game... I feel a bit weird handing out HTV cards, because personally I think that people should have made their mind up prior to the day; the Greens weren't actually recommending preferences at all, which to my mind obviates the need for an HTV (though I would, under most circumstances, put preferences regardless of whether any party recommended a 'just vote 1' strategy). So a vote that's swayed by an HTV is a vote not earned, to my way of thinking... sure they all count the same, it's just hard to have any respect for the decision of someone who has no idea why they're voting. Still, I guess I like the idea that we're doing something to help out a party we like.  Green voterAnother thing that happened when we were handing out HTVs was that someone who lives in our unit complex arrived. Now, this woman is, I can say with almost 100% certainty, a Liberal voter. She is middle-aged (50-something), single (though wears a wedding ring), works in HR, comes across as insular, selfish and quite often downright antagonistic. I might be being too hard on her, but it's entirely possible I'm also being quite generous in my description. When she spotted us she was clutching only a Liberal HTV, obviously having refused the Labor one. Yet she smiled as we said good morning, said something about us doing our 'civic duty', and took a Green HTV... it was so weird... she was clearly only taking it to be polite... I know for a fact she's not interested in the Greens' main platform of improved public transport- we're talking about someone who drives her car to the bin on her way to work, hops out to put her rubbish in, and drives off... she also drives to the mailbox to collect her mail (as do a frustrating number of residents at our complex, i.e. most of them). I wonder if she'll find a way to mention it at body corporate meetings? Anyway, looks like Brisbane has got a chance to see just how far it can fall with Campbell Newman taking full control of the council. I just can't believe the amount of apathy that appeared to exist on the Labor side, like they were just expecting to win a majority without any effort while the Libs spent their way through a million dollar campaign fund. Unbelieveable.
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