Local government… why would you do it?

Saturday was a very long day. After two weeks of pre-polling (where my Mum stood from 9 to 5 daily awaiting the chance to talk to pre-election day voters), hours of letterbox dropping and many a constituent phone call, Saturday was the day when our family took to the polling booths to barrack for Mumma.

Before the sun had risen we were hanging up posters and figuring out the best place to stand to capture the market. We weren’t alone. With six candidates vying for one position, there were volunteers (although how ‘free’ their services were appeared dubious at times) from all camps setting up stands. Most wore professionally printed t-shirts; we had Mumma’s handmade lilac bibs (because Spotlight had a dollar-a-metre deal on lilac cotton).

Two of the candidates had hired campaign managers with experience running state elections and had even organised a postal mail out to the electorate the Thursday before, at a cost of more than $10,000. Two more had had their campaigns paid for (in large part) by another candidate, and all, except Mumma, had teamed up with others for first and second preferences.

If you calculate the cost of printing posters, pamphlets, how-to-votes, t-shirts, graphic designers and campaign managers it’s likely this little by-election cost at least two of the candidates upwards of $20,000. Mum spent two. Printing her flyers. We (the fam) did it for love.

On the day it seemed Mum was fairing well. Nothing quite trumps, “Vote for my mum,” and having already spent 12 years as a councillor, many people knew her already and were happy she’d decided to run again. Unfortunately with local government, most people don’t give a toss until they or their neighbour want to develop their house or want Council to enforce parking restrictions in their street. And with a by-election, many are peeved that they need to vote at all. After all, the last election was only in September. Ironically, if people took more time to get to know their candidates, perhaps they wouldn’t have voted in such an unsavoury character as they guy who got booted, thus sparking the by-election.

After eleven hours in the elements – both sunshine and rain – we packed up our booths and headed for home. Exhausted, but happy. We’d done all we could. It would have been a miracle for Mum to triumph over the other campaign machines; in the end she came third. With a normal election – where three candidates are chosen – Mumma would have got in, and looking at the primary votes her tally of 1,520 was just shy of the winner, but with preferences from knock-outs being awarded, it seems money won over.

Just when did local government get so slick?