By Callum Ludwig
Early voting has opened for those keen to do their democratic duties before election day on 3 May.
Representatives of the potential pollies were out in force at the Darren Honey Centre in Healesville on Wednesday 23 April to plead their case.
With flyers in hand and signs aplenty outside early voting, here’s what local volunteers had to say:
Volunteering for Independent candidate Claire Ferres-Miles, Woori Yallock resident Maria Mithen said this was her first time getting involved in an election but she feels like she’s making a difference.
“I’ve met Claire, and she has a very good background in things like the environment and climate, as well as the fact that she was an engineer by trade, a very capable lady of doing what she wants to do,” she said.
“Some of her policies are to do with integrity in politics and it’s about time we had some sense in parliament and that they learn to speak nicely to themselves, but she’s listening to people in this area,”
“She asks them what they want and she would like to see emergency care for us, which really appealed to me, we’ve got Warburton Hospital sitting up there and Healesville Hospital with no emergency care and in fact, there’s not one in Casey at all, so it’s about time we did something for that.”
Representatives of the Independent candidate, the Greens, the Labor party, the Liberal party and Family First could be found outside the early voting centre in the early afternoon.
Ms Mithen said the local independent movement has done a lot of handing out and letterboxing and knocking on people’s doors this time.
“I think in 2022, she (Claire) wasn’t very well known outside of the Hills, she was very well known in the Dandenongs, but this time she’s widely known, she’s still going to have an uphill battle but I think she’s going to get a lot more votes this time,” she said.
“Come with an open mind, we’ve had Liberals here for 40 years and people just feel they’re not being listened to and things are not being done for our area, we’re greatly inspired by Indi who are just north of us and they have had an independent now twice,”
“We just feel it’s a better way, if you belong to a party you have to vote for your party, you have to vote the way they tell you, even if it’s something you don’t really believe in, whereas an independent can work with the parties and bring about change.”
A steady stream of early voters was passing through in Healesville, foregoing their democracy sausage for a chance to cast their vote flexibly and possibly quicker than during the rush of election day.
Dr Bob Rich has been volunteering before and since he became a member of the Greens in 2013 and said he does it because he wants the young people of today to have a tomorrow worth living in and he believes the Greens’ philosophy and policies are exactly in line with that.
“This campaign, we’ve been going for over a year and with door knocks and phone calls, we’ve had over 3000 of what we call meaningful interactions where we’ve had a conversation with someone and that’s absolutely incredible,” he said.
“Our team has grown and there’s a terrific young man who is a campaign organiser, and I don’t mind saying, I’m an old fellow but I’ve learnt lots from him and also from our wonderful candidate, Merran Blair, who is just amazing,”
“If people rush by or if they obviously favour another party that’s fine but if they have the time, then I will have a ten-second conversation with them and I reckon I swing quite a few votes because I believe what I say.”
According to the Australian Electoral Commission, other early voting locations open to Casey voters include St Patrick’s Parish Community Centre in Lilydale, the Chirnside Park Community Hub and the Old Croydon Community School (which falls just inside the Deakin electorate).
Dr Rich said you can’t ask people who they’re going to vote for but in terms of their facial expressions and body language, he thinks the ones who stop to talk to him, he gets through to.
“I want a better world and it’s almost too late, we’re in the sixth extinction event of Earth because of greed,” he said.
“We need a world that’s ruled by compassion, decency, empathy, generosity and that’s actually part of the Greens’ ‘Four Pillars’, that’s why I’m in the Greens, that’s why I’m working hard.”
Voters can vote at any voting centre, but if you are outside your electorate, you must vote in a separate line for those voting from outside their electorate.
Labor volunteer Sandra said she has been volunteering since the early 1970s when herself and her husband worked at a polling booth in Ascot Vale.
“A lot of the voters there were 90-year-old people who’d been suffragettes and they were so passionate about people being lucky enough to be in a democracy and it was their responsibility to vote, not waste it,” she said.
“I just think it would be nice for the current government to be able to see through some of the policies which could help, particularly those lower socio-economic groups… it’s very much like last time, the early polling back here is very similar,”
“There’s a lot (of people) going in without needing (how to vote) cards, there’s a lot of just going through and saying ‘I’m right, I’m right’ and I think there’s a lot more holiday makers up here this year.”
Family First, represented by candidate Dan Nebauer himself, and the Liberal Party representatives declined to comment.
