Voting in Australia's remote corners

The Australian Electoral Commission is going to great lengths to collect votes in some of Australia's most remote communities.

Voting in Australia's remote cornersVoting in Australia's remote corners

Voting in Australia's remote corners

In the fortnight ahead of polling day the Commission is setting up mobile polling booths in more than 400 locations.

 

While many Australians may be still thinking about who to vote for on September 7, ballot boxes are already on the move, being sent to Australia's most remote corners.

 

By land, air and sea to the Australian Electoral Commission is hauling around its mobile polling stations to make sure people in the nation's most remote locations have their say.

 

This year the AEC is visiting more than four-hundred remote communities and covering more than 1.3 million square kilometres.

 

The Commission's Bob Eckhardt says there's a real sense of occasion when the polling booths arrive.

 

"Think of it visually you sort of, the van pulls up, you're under the tree. People come up and there's time. It's not the numbers - there's never a queue - or rarely a queue so there's time to talk, there's time to engage and not just with the voters but also the scrutineers from the different parties. It's a really a good, it's an enjoyable atmosphere."

 

In the Northern Territory, Senator Nigel Scullion is making his third tilt at an upper house seat.

 

He says when the mobile polling booths roll into town the locals are generally pretty pleased to say g'day and have a yarn.

 

It's the animals you have to watch out for.

 

"And I can remember this donkey was more interested in the how to vote cards than anyone else. And apart from all the obvious jokes about donkey votes you know that donkey consumed some paper and just absolutely insistent coming over and trying get in. And of course trying to talk to a donkey "I'm sorry you can't get in the line, you can't vote, trying to push him out."

 

In a bid to get the largest possible voting turn out, the Commission says it's been spending a lot of time working with Indigenous communities to decide the best time for mobile polling booths to visit.

 

The Commission's also been asking Indigenous elders to spread the word about the importance of voting.

 

Mr Eckhardt says there's a reason the Commission is going to such great lengths ensure Indigenous Australians have their say.

 

"Less than 50 per cent of Indigenous eligible voters are enrolled and of those that are less than 50 per cent turn out to vote. So our message is pretty forthright: important to have your say, who represents you basically determines the quality of services your community is going to get."

 

To each of the remote polling stations, the AEC says it's sending an expert on the voting system, someone who knows the community and someone from an Indigenous background.

 

Another electorate where mobile booths are particularly important in is the nation's largest and most remote House of Representatives seat - Lingiari.

 

It covers the entire Northern Territory, except for the area just around Darwin - which is in the separate seat of Solomon.

 

Lingiari also includes the Australian Indian Ocean Territories of Christmas Island and Cocos-Keeling Islands.

 

It has the highest Indigenous population in the country at more than 40 per cent - nearly three times the proportion of the next highest electorate.

 

Currently holding the seat is Labor MP Warren Snowden who says electioneering in the Territory can be a pretty personal affair.

 

"Talking to people, sitting down having a chat, having a yarn, letting them talk to you and tell you what their concerns are and what their issues are and asking questions."

 

Back on the road, he says covering his more than 1.3 million square kilometres electorate can be unpredictable and dirty work.

 

"Yesterday we had an unfortunate puncture on a very poor road and that delayed us a bit and we've had another puncture this morning so that's going to delay us a little further."

 

 


Share

4 min read

Published

Updated


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world