(1)
Flying the flag
SATURDAY
5.00am - Woke up, showered, ironed my clothes, and burnt my tongue on a badly made cup of tea.
7.35am - After driving (well navigating while my best friend drove) for an hour, we arrived at Indooroopilly State School in Ryan to hand out for Labor candidate Ross Daniels.
8.00am - The opening of the booth is over shadowed by the opening of the cake and craft stand that the school has put on.
9.00am (ish) - Michael Johnson (Liberal candidate) arrives, pleasantries are exchanged. I try to control my giggling as he is wearing a bright yellow shirt that has his name printed multiple times on both the front and back. I secretly wonder why an incumbent member would require such a shirt.
9.34am - A Channel 7 news crew arrives and interviews Michael Johnson. He wears the yellow shirt during the interview.
10.00am - I am pleasantly surprised by the amount of people who seem to know who they are voting for when they walk into the polling booth. I laugh as my friend is presented with a KEVIN07 car flag for her car.
10.45am - Replacement booth workers arrive and my two friends and I leave Indooroopilly State School. The KEVIN07 flag flails about in the breeze as we drive back to Rankin.
12.15pm - After a quick change of campaign clothes, my two friends and I meet up at our local Hogs Breath for lunch to argue for an hour and a half about town planning and the direction our local council should be taking. We overuse the words ‘vision’, ‘direction’ and ‘infrastructure.’ The Hogs Breath staff stare at us like we are on fire. I try to contain my concern that the chef not spit in my food just because he or she disagrees with my outfit. My food arrives, all appearance indicate that it is saliva free. Getting to Hogs breath involves walking though a major shopping centre; cleaners, security staff and young people give us the thumbs up. I stare in amazement as I realise everyone in this store has voted, or will vote today.
1.58pm - We arrive at Shailer Park State High School in the seat of Rankin to hand out for Labor candidate Craig Emerson. Shailer Park is a shared booth between Rankin and Forde (Labor candidate Brett Raguse.) My remaining friend and I split up and try to educate confused voters who see two different Labor candidate’s core flutes. Our excellent (some might say nerd like) knowledge of Federal boundaries assists voters by letting them know their electoral division.
2.28pm - Feel proud at my best friends voting for the first time which she hopes to be counted, and not an informal vote for Bart Simpson or Pink.
3.26pm - I get in a discussion with another Labor worker for refusing to exploit a child for political gain, after a 5 year old boy asked if he could help me hand out while his Mum went to vote. I gave the boy some How to Votes but refused to put a KEVIN07 shirt on him. The little boy asks me why “the good noise comes on when he” at this stage he points to Kevin Rudd “comes on the TV, and the bad noise comes on when the other man comes on the TV?” I try to explain, but end up giving an anti bulling lecture.
3.35pm - Someone finally takes a How to Vote card from the little boy and his eyes light up. I give him a hi-five and he grins from ear to ear. The little boy’s Mum comes out of the polling booth and gets frustrated when the little boy refuses to leave.
5.30pm - I befriend the lovely old man handing out the National and Liberal How to Votes (Forde is a seat where there is a 3-corners-contest). I ask if the lovely old man will let me steal his “Labor’s killing our council. Put Labor last” core flute to add to my collection of wacky and incorrect election material. The lovely National man obliges and cuts down all the core flutes I have been eyeballing.
7.00pm - We arrive at the Rankin election party, set ourselves up in front of the TV.
7.30pm - 11.30pm - I scream, jump out of my seat, and almost cry a bunch of times. I hug people I didn’t exactly know, stare in disbelief at the swing to Labor. Blind myself with the flash on my camera. Accept phone calls from friends who have lost their campaigns, and friends who have won. Ponder the symbolism of the rain that began just as John Howard took the stage to concede, and finished when the coverage went back to the tally room. I watch Kevin Rudd’s speech and panic with everyone else when the TV lost it’s signal just as he began to speak. Listen to Craig Emerson’s address to his branch members and volunteers. Pose for a million photos.
12.00am - Drop a mate off at home.
12.15am - Arrive home and sit in front of my computer looking at the AEC website. Realise that for the first time in my life I will be living in a country which reflects my beliefs and ideological ideals. Cry. Realise that I’m just as much at fault in perpetuating the blame game as others, and resolve to accept responsibility for the mistakes, faults and stumbles of my new government as well as the successes.
12.30am - Remember that we are going to ratify Kyoto, say sorry to the Indigenous peoples, withdraw combat troops, and invest in our education systems. I cry again.
1.15am - Decide that sitting at a computer watching numbers click over and crying into my KEVIN07 shirt isn’t productive and decide to go to bed.
Melissa is a member of the Australian Labor Party.
