There was a lot more to polling day on October 9 than what the federal election result reflected. From home-made anti-Howard paraphernalia, to visits by Iraqi delegations, to heated and colourful political debates, the activity at polling booths around the country showed that there's by no means a consensus on PM John Howard's fourth-term mandate. Green left Weekly spoke to some of the hundreds of volunteers mobilised to canvass for the Socialist Alliance on polling day about what went down.
Opposition to Howard runs deep
Despite Howard's re-election, the deep-seated and substantial opposition to his policies, lies and attacks was on display on polling day. Hand-made posters warning people not to vote for Howard were taped on poles and walls throughout many cities. Liberal Party booth workers were hounded by voters angry at Howard's record.
At one booth in Balmain, Sydney, a well-dressed man arrived with a ladder under his arm and proceeded to tie a rat trap high up a telegraph pole, with a picture of Howard captured in its vice. In Belconnen, Canberra, someone pulled out a giant cardboard box displaying all the crimes of the Howard government. A desperate Liberal polling-booth worker tried to destroy the cardboard box, pushing the protester before speeding off in a car.
In Footscray South, Socialist Alliance booth workers reported that many voters were more enthusiastic about taking away postcards to Howard calling for Australian troops to be withdrawn from Iraq than they were about taking any parties' how-to-vote cards.
In Canberra, a delegation from the puppet Iraqi government was observing the elections at a number of booths. One person left the group to collect Socialist Alliance's leaflets, badges calling for "Troops out of Iraq!" and copies of Green Left Weekly.
Labor wasn't immune to abuse either. At a Geelong booth an angry ambulance officer confronted the ALP supporters, shouting, "You screwed us over!", in reference to the Victorian Labor government's appalling wage deal. Socialist Alliance candidate for Corangamite Chris Johnson jumped in declaring, "Well then vote for the Socialist Alliance, we supported you!"
Greens and reds unite
In many seats, Greens and Socialist Alliance activists worked closely together on the polling booths, helping to hand-out each other's how-to-vote cards when there were multiple entrances to cover, sharing refreshments and discussing the key election issues.
On half a dozen booths in the Reid electorate in Sydney's western suburbs, Greens helpers turned out to be regular readers of Green Left Weekly and at least a couple of activists handed out for the Greens for half the day and SA for the other half. Many discussions were had between local Greens and SA activists about the need to work more closely together after the election to strengthen refugee-rights and anti-war campaigning in the local area.
Keeping it in the family
Not all parties found it easy to find sufficient numbers of supporters to cover the polling booths. On one Hobart booth, a person handing out how-to-vote cards for the Liberals was quick to tell everyone that he wouldn't be helping the Liberals except that the candidate was a relative. The young woman handing out for Family First on the same booth didn't agree with (and in fact wasn't even aware of) many of Family First's right-wing policies.
Some Democrats canvassers, many of whom were paid workers, were extremely ashamed of their parties' preference exchange with Family First. In Reid, only three Democrats were seen between 13 polling booths, and at least two ALP canvassers admitted to having been paid to hand out for Labor. One Labor local branch leader commented that "Socialist Alliance people are everywhere today — lucky for us".
Winning beyond the ballot box
After placing a bet at the TAB, an anti-war campaigner came to a Footscray polling booth in Melbourne to help hand out how-to-votes for the Socialist Alliance. While his horses hadn't done too well, he was sure that he'd a backed a winner in Gellibrand SA candidate Linda Waldron. He told her: "You are a winner whatever happens — you are giving it to those bastards over there", nodding towards the Liberal and ALP canvassers.
On another booth an ALP canvasser told Waldron that her mother rang from Perth to say that after receiving some information in her letterbox she intended to vote for the Socialist Alliance. When the ALP canvasser discovered Waldron was the candidate she said: "That was a brilliant letter you wrote in this week's local paper against [Labor MP Nicola] Roxon's opposition to same-sex marriage — we were all talking about it at home." The Greens canvasser also told Waldron that her daughter was voting for the Socialist Alliance.
In the ACT seat of Fraser, Labor preferenced the Socialist Alliance last. This caused a backlash among ALP booth staff who didn't agree with the decision, and some decided to distribute Socialist Alliance how-to-vote cards and even vote SA. Scrutineering by an ALP and SA supporter in one booth found that some 20-30% of ALP voters gave their second preference to SA.
Socialist campaigning goes regional
Since the formation of the Socialist Alliance three years ago, it has steadily spread beyond the major cities to regional and rural areas. In one such area Ron Bailey contested the federal election for the first time, in the seat of Lynne. The alliance managed to staff four polling booths in Taree and 10 in the Port Macquarie area.
An indication of the growing interest in alternative parties in his area, on Bailey's way home one day before the election "a man charged out of the local shop, grabbed me by the hand to shake it and said: 'Congratulations, mate ... I'm going to vote for you."
More than 50 Socialist Alliance supporters from Geelong, Colac and Ballarat helped out on polling day in the Geelong region. According to the Socialist Alliance candidate for Corio, Tim Gooden, "We were made up of all those who Family First would like to burn at the stake: Communists, militant unionists, Buddhists, lesbians, red-greenies and others committed to progressive campaigns". More than a dozen people in Geelong indicated that they now plan to join the Socialist Alliance and keep up the fight against Howard's pro-war, anti-people policies.
From Green Left Weekly, October 13, 2004.
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