Discussion: Lefties

Actually I don't know what I am. I had some Labor flunky turn up at my door today spruiking her candidate's policies for WA's newest seat, Burt (of which I am now a resident of), ask who I voted for so I told her in a roundabout way and she mumbled something like 'Disillusioned with the left, I mean the right'. I guess she didn't even know her own party's stance any more than I did.

I had a long telephone conversation with an advocate for the Greens just before we left for our trip. She was getting quite excited that she might have my vote, until pointed out that we were going to be a long way from a booth in early July and likely we find it difficult to even get a postal vote sorted given our itinerant travel schedule. Shame as a vote in Curtin means so much.

Senate vote might mean something.

Wasn't the election only called yesterday? How'd you know it'd be early July?

Pretty much an inevitable consequence of the legalities of calling an election now - double dissolutions can't be called within 6 months of the expiry of the term (making the deadline 11 May), but because Senate terms end on 30 June, a polling day before 30 June means cutting the next Senate's term short by a year, which in turn means either calling the next election a year early (as Hawke had to in 1984) or having a separate Senate election. Now to 2 July is already stretching the normal length of a campaign considerably.

Stretching more than the normal length of a campaign!

I'll be campaigning for shorter campaigns.