Last Saturday Victoria. my home state, voted.
Everybody has to vote, as long as she/he is Australian citizen. That takes away the pressure to get people to the booths.
They show up in long queues.
I mingled among the party supporters who pitched “how to vote” papers to the voters. I enjoyed to talk with them, as it was clear that all stayed polite and light-hearted, whatever they represented.
The quite popular local Labor Candidate Martin Foley showed up as well. He got nearly 50% of the first preferences.
The Australian system is quite complicated because of the preferences given. If someone’s preferred candidate is out, the vote goes to the candidate named as the second preference and so on. But it is possible just to tick one party and the preferences flow with the endorsements done by the party to others. From talking to people, I am not sure how many really understand it.
However, there is the democracy sausage, and no event here is complete without a coffee.
Port Melbourne is suburb near the real port and the industrial area. Many many generations of migrants started their lives here.
I met my former Turkish neighbour with his mother, and watched a surprise dialogue in Cantonese, by a woman from Hong Kong who came here in the Sixties and a “mainland Cantonese” who arrived earlier this century.
The evening made me happy, because the Liberals were soundly defeated. Their fearmongering was not successful. Victoria re-elected a premier with a positive message looking into the future.