Far North Queensland locals reveal why they vote for same party every year
There are five spots in Leichhardt – and major parties know where they are – where no amount of cash, campaigning or kissing babies is likely to change the vote.
Cairns
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MAJOR parties know there are five spots in Leichhardt where no amount of cash, campaigning or kissing babies is likely to change the vote.
These are the rusted-on booths where constituents are as predictable as they come – and now the Cairns Post has the same data used by Labor and the Coalition’s key war-room strategists.
Leichhardt is a bellwether seat if ever there was one, having been won by the party that formed government in every election except 2010 since 1972.
Its 150,000sq m size means there is plenty of variation within the theme.
Issues in a major centre like Cairns are very different to Aboriginal communities in Cape York, Central Queensland agricultural towns and islands across the Torres Strait, and it is reflected in their voting habits.
However, a clear pattern has emerged in the five rusted-on booths where the popular vote has not changed once in the six federal elections since 2004.
They all backed Labor.
Machans Beach was the only Cairns booth to make the rusted-on list as one of the biggest Green-Labor booths in the electorate.
Labor’s Elida Faith secured 34 per cent of the vote in 2020, followed by the Greens on 25 per cent and the incumbent Coalition MP Warren Entsch at just 22.5 per cent.
It was a similar theme in the 2020 state election with Labor reaping 41 per cent of first preferences, the Greens at 27 per cent and the LNP on 22.5 per cent.
The numbers came as no surprise to former Cairns mayor Val Schier, a Machans Beach local since 1984.
“Machans is very much a Greens and Labor community, the Greens get a big vote here but I occasionally toss my vote toward Labor,” she said
“I’m really alarmed at where the Conservatives are taking our nation, it’s all about money and the big end of town, they’re not looking after people who are seeking refuge, need housing, or the future generation who will be impacted by climate change.
“I think Labor is more likely to look after all people and not just the privileged elites.”
Machans local yoga instructor Martha Goldman has lived in the suburb for 27 years and said she votes Greens and Labor.
“I care about the environment and I care about decent social policies that are inclusive of a majority of people and don’t just benefit the rich,” she said.
“I think the Coalition is dragging its feet and making the environmental problems worse by ignoring climate change and promoting fossil fuels, I think it’s criminal.
“I just think Labor is preferable and realistically, we mainly have a two party system, so I see Labor as more trustworthy than the Coalition.”
However, no booth in Australia is a complete whitewash.
Carla Hourn from Machans Beach culinary staple O’Sheas Restaurant said she was a firm Liberal voter with no intention of switching teams.
She believed the only constituents in her suburb who voted Labor were “people who want the handouts”.
“You’ve got to be (a Liberal voter), otherwise Labor crucifies small business,” she said.
“Every time Labor gets in power they are renowned for trying to stick up for the workers but they stuff up the poor old businesses.
“Cairns is already in that situation at the moment because of all the Covid stuff, there are for lease signs everywhere.
“I’ll definitely be voting Liberal again.
“All the business owners will be doing the same.
“Everyone on welfare and people who don’t do much tend to be all Labor, they want the handouts.
The rest of Leichhardt’s rusted-on booths were in remote areas of Cape York or the Torres Strait.
Aurukun, Horn Island, Napranum and Kowanyama all delivered Labor booth wins in all six elections since 2004.
Labor hopes to add more red flags across the northernmost reaches of the electorate.
Ms Faith has been taking on whirlwind tours of the Cape and Torres Strait since late last year, visiting the likes of Pormpuraaw, Coen, Lockhart River, Kowanyama, Thursday Island and Hammond Island.
A $40m Labor pledge to upgrade jetties and carry out dredging work across the Torres Strait is another targeted effort to lock down votes in booths that are Labor-aligned but not rusted and might need some extra grease to ensure a win.
The Coalition has also announced big-hit infrastructure projects across the Cape and Torres region in its pre-election budget.
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Originally published as Far North Queensland locals reveal why they vote for same party every year
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