The rusted on Australians: Why Makin booth of Parafield Gardens keeps voting for the same party at every federal election

It’s a safe Labor booth within a Labor-leaning electorate and it looks set to remain that way if you ask this northern suburbs community.

This safe Labor booth appears set to maintained its trajectory, despite some voices against the party.

The polling booth at Parafield Gardens R-7 School sits in the federal electorate of Makin, which was been held by Labor MP Tony Zappia since 2007.

Its residents are considered rusted on Labor supporters with 71 per cent of two candidate preferred votes went to the ALP in the last election.

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This loyalty can be seen through local Sharlene Wooster, who is the owner of an NDIS service provider

Ms Wooster said while the stereotype of business owners dictated that she vote Liberal, she thought Labor’s values aligned with her own.

“It seems they’re more supportive of the NDIS to some degree, I don’t even like the look of the candidates on Liberal posters,” Ms Wooster said.

Parafield Gardens voter Sharlene Wooster. Picture: Jason Katsaras

The suburb has a relatively young population, with a median age of 35.

It also has a large number of new Australians with 35.8 per cent of households having a non-English language spoken at home.

Hailing from Malta originally, Lawrence Coleiro, 72, said he began voting Labor from the get go and continued to do so to this day, representing a generational allegiance in the area.

“I’m Labor, always Labor, I’ve followed my family’s advice all along,” Mr Coleiro said.

“I don’t take much notice of either of either party leader, I just walk in there, vote Labor and leave.”

Parafield Gardens voter Lawrence Coleiro. Picture: Brinley Duggan

Conversely Richard Arnoldt, 62, who works as a security guard, said the Liberal government’s “track record of stability during the pandemic” might see him vote Liberal.

“No one is overly legendary but we haven’t fallen off the edge of the cliff yet so it’ll probably be ScoMo,” Mr Arnoldt said.

“I’ve always been a swing voter because I vote on policy not on party.

“We need to address unemployment and get people into jobs.”

Richard Arnoldt, Parafield Gardens voter. Picture: Emily Jarvis

A Messenger poll conducted in the area saw a convincing majority of voters say they would vote Labor in the upcoming election.

However, if the polling booth at Parafield Gardens were to see any swing it may be due to a level of conservatism in some multicultural communities.

Swati Shah and husband Sundip Shah, Parafield Gardens voters. Picture: Jason Katsaras

Husband and wife Sundip, 50, and Swati, 48, Shah said they believed the Coalition would win the federal election and they would be voting Liberal.

Mr Shah, who works in the Department of Human Services, said he liked the government’s policies and his wife agreed.