Far North votes: Early voter survey reveals seat of Mulgrave trend
A survey of voters leaving polling booths in the Far North Queensland seat of Mulgrave has revealed an early indication of whether Labor will retain the seat the party has held since 1998.
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A survey of voters leaving polling booths in the Far North seat of Mulgrave has revealed an early indication of whether Labor will retain the seat the party has held since 1998.
Last-minute candidate for Mulgrave Richie Bates was preselected in September following the shock exit from politics of the former member Curtis Pitt.
Also announced rather late with seven weeks to campaign was the LNP’s pick for Mulgrave Terry James.
A tally of 200 exit polls taken at the Edmonton and Woree has Labor in front 65 votes to 51.
But minor parties have proved appealing to voters, including One Nation that picked up 27 votes and Katter’s Australian Party’s tally stands at 23.
A group of independent candidates including Yodie Batzke, Dave Raymond and Ian Floyd collectively managed to pick up 18 votes from the 200 voter sample.
As the police helicopter flew over the Woree polling centre chasing stolen cars, independent voter Dan, who declined to give his surname, chose not to vote for either major party due to a belief there was little difference between Labor and the Liberal Party.
“I feel like you are voting for the same horse, it’s just different colour sometimes,” he said.
“I just prefer to put independent even though I know they’ll probably never get in, it’s more of a protest vote.
“You see the helicopter flying over everyday, we’ve got bridges and roads that still need fixing 12 months after the flood
“We just need the basics and I just like to see an independent of two in parliament, if I can.”
A voter from Edmonton said she had never voted before, however, this year she felt compelled to because of the “rise in crime,” particularly on the southside of Cairns.
“I’ve honestly never voted before, I just came to do a donkey vote, but this year I wanted to vote for the Liberals because something has to change, we need someone to stop the crime,” she said.
An Edmonton voter casting their ballot said they supported the Liberal Party this year due to the party’s tough stance on youth crime.
“I voted for the LNP to change the crime,” they said.
Another voter, and mother-of-three had originally arrived at the polling centre at the Edmonton United Church on Saturday morning ready to cast a vote for Labor, however, said she changed her mind “at the last minute”, following a phone call with her mum.
“I ended up changing my mind and voted Liberal,” she said.
“I wanted to vote Labor because I didn’t like what was being said about changing the abortion laws, it’s my body my choice.
“But I called my mum before voting and she said ‘It’s not true, all the stuff Labor are saying, they’re putting a spin on it,” she said.
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Originally published as Far North votes: Early voter survey reveals seat of Mulgrave trend
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