Why Kepnock booth is pivotal in Hinkler this election 2022

From better support for small businesses to the region’s housing crisis, voters near one of the region’s swinging booths have shared their thoughts ahead of the Federal election.

In the 26 years butcher Ken Barritt has been in business at Bundaberg, much has changed, including his vote.

The owner of Ken’s Kepnock Butchery told the NewsMail he used to always “vote one way” but now, he looked at each election “on its own merit”.

The business is just round the corner from one of the city’s ‘volatile’ booths (also known as swinging booth, but not one that ‘predicts’ an election result- meaning voters using these booths tend to go either way with their vote), Kepnock State High School.

Mr Barritt, who together with his wife Sue currently employs four full time staff and a couple of casuals, told the NewsMail his vote could still go either way.

“As you get a bit older and get a bit wiser I suppose you start looking at a few more things rather than just following the crowd, see what’s most important at the time, and who’s serious about doing the correct things at the time,” he said

Unlike many small business owners, who have struggled amid the pandemic, the butcher has seen a positive shift.

“Covid has been a bonus for our industry I think because of people not being able to go out to the restaurants... so we’ve had more people eating at home and going back to a bit of the basics,” he said

“The last couple of years have been quite alright for us, we’ve been lucky we haven’t been forced into closing.”

Ken's Kepnock Butchery

Despite a successful couple of years, a hot topic for Mr Barritt heading into this election is the importance of supporting small, regional businesses by bringing back services which have been centralised in big cities.

“We tend to get forgotten,” Mr Barritt said.

“Once they get outside an area, they’ll tell you they’ll offer you everything during an election campaign and then you never see them again.”

He explained a lot of services, whether it be food supply or more government services like transport, had been stripped from the regions and set up in big cities.

“They’ve stripped the countryside of their services, centralised them in the capital cities...” he explained.

“But in situations like we’ve had in the last two years where we’ve been in Covid lockdowns and then the flood issues, and then we suddenly can’t get supplies because everything’s centralised in this one place and you can’t get it back out to the areas.

“I’ve always been a country boy or a regional boy, I’m not necessarily a big city fan, we’ve got a lot of people in the big cities, but there’s a lot of people in the countryside...”

Ken's Kepnock Butchery

“The regional people are just as important as anybody else, they’re actually what makes the country run.”

The number of workers small businesses employed, Mr Barritt said, also added up.

“The small businesses are the ones that should be supported a lot more, they’re not asking for as many handouts as what the big ones are, they’re not getting as many kickbacks as what the big ones are,” he said.

The NewsMail also spoke to parents and members of the community outside Kepnock State High School about hot topics for them leading into the election.

For retiree Philip Skinner, 72, his vote was leaning towards Liberal as he would like to see Scott Morrison remain.

He also wanted to see more job opportunities available for youth.

“More work for the young people... meaningful work,” Mr Skinner said.

Michael Walker, 36, said he was still “on the fence” with his vote.

The homeless crisis was among the issues he wanted to see addressed.

The Bundaberg local since 1999 said he has noticed more empty buildings around the region, and suggested some could be made into shelters.

“Look at this empty building... there’s heaps around,” Mr Walker said.

Neville Fenner said simply “I’d like to see the National Liberal party returned”.

Farm worker Michael Bauer said he wants the next government to improve the state of the region’s roads.

“Better roads that’s all - some have been around for a long time,” he said.

Mr Bauer highlighted the roads in the worst condition appeared to be on the outskirts of town.

While was keeping his vote a secret, he said he “wouldn’t vote differently” than he did in 2019.

Ted Harris, 89, explained he wanted the next government to be mindful of the money being spent across the country.

“They need to be more careful with money that they spend,” Mr Harris said.

He added this needed to be “within the means of the country”.

While he was yet to decide who would win his vote, at this point, he was adverse voting for Labor.

Hinkler’s second volatile voting booth in 2019 was Walkervale State School.

Originally published as Why Kepnock booth is pivotal in Hinkler this election 2022