Northern Vietnam
Sapa
So far Ive managed to avoid jury duty twice in Cairns but I cant avoid voting. I think its a fifty dollar fine if you dont vote in Australia though I suspect its gone up since the last time I looked.
I cast my vote today on the first day of the polls. The official election day is still over two weeks off but people who have a legitimate reason for not being home on that day are allowed to vote early. My legitimate reason is I wanted to get it over and done with.
Since its a federal election we vote for both the senate and the house of representatives. Senators in Australia are purely federal... there are no state senators. Members of parliament representing local electorates come from both the major parties and the weirder smaller ones. This years new party is the 'What Women Want' party, which is campaigning for better childcare, health care and everything else women want. It'll be interesting to see how they do.
My local MP is retiring and is handing over the reigns to a female candidate, and she goes in to this election facing a few remarkably stupid opponents. The National Party candidate stated that she shouldnt run because this electorate was too much for a woman to handle, and the religious Family First Party demanded that she explain her sexual orientation. Cairns may be pretty but its not particularly advanced.
Political website for the brave is www.paulinehanson.com.au. If you can ever find her maiden speech of about ten years ago, which seems to have been pulled from the site this week, youre in for a treat. Its five pages of absolute guano.
K
