At some point yesterday on his drive from Burren Junction to Gunnedah, Labor candidate for Parkes Nathan Fell passed the milestone of 5000 kilometres travelled in just two weeks as he races around the electorate to meet as many voters and supporters as he can.
As he chatted to supporters and fellow union members at Gunnedah’s Courthouse Hotel on Sunday night, most of the locals sitting nearby admitted they didn’t know who he was.
“I didn’t even realise there was a Labor candidate,” said one woman at the bar.
“You mean the Labor candidate is actually showing up?” said a man enjoying his meal.
Fell does certainly have the odds stacked against him, particularly in Gunnedah where Nationals Candidate Jamie Chaffey is so well known as the former Mayor, but the locals were prepared to hear him out and give him credit for making the trip to Gunnedah. And it was clear that most people had no idea who else was on the ballot.
“I know who Jamie Chaffey is because he was the Mayor here, but that’s it. And I still wouldn’t vote for him,” said Bek Crowe, one of the people who had specifically come to meet the Labor candidate.
The practice of ‘paper’ candidates, who are running for reasons other than wanting to win the election, is a common occurrence in the Australian electoral system. The most common driver is parties standing a candidate in every seat either to harvest electoral funding (if a candidate gets 4% of the vote the party gets $5 for every first preference vote) or to drum up Senate votes for party leaders.
Aside from the leading candidates Labor’s Fell, and the National’s Chaffey, the Libertarian candidate Sally Edwards, and the serial independent Stuart Howe look to be the only ones making an effort to campaign in the Parkes contest. The six other names on the ballot appear to either be loyal party soldiers, doing their bit for the team and nothing more, or absentee candidates who are just names on a ballot.
The ‘other six’ candidates
Working through the ballot from top to bottom, One Nation candidate Mark Carter doesn’t have so much as a profile on the One Nation website. He has provided a brief bio to the Parkes newspaper which indicated he’s originally from Sydney, has lived in Parkes for about 7 years and is a truck driver, and says he’s standing because he’s sick of politicians.
Stephen Pope, the Shooters Fishers and Farmers party candidate, also has absolutely no information about the man on the party website, it only lists the party issued How to Vote card. A social media post from the pseudonymous account ‘Norco Marty’ in the Parkes Candidates group on Facebook indicates he’s a care worker in Dubbo, but the Norco Marty account is locked, and no other trace of him could be located.
Trish Frail has been the Greens candidate at a number of elections. The Brewarrina local council member is doing her bit by spreading the party message, an the quintessential loyal party soldier.
Petrus Van Der Steen of the Trumpet of Patriot has done a number of interviews – including one with this masthead – and is campaigning, but he doesn’t live in Parkes. The three-time Clive Palmer candidate lives in Murrurundi in the Upper Hunter region, in the New England electorate.
Bob Wilson was born in Wilcannia, as was his party – the Indigenous-Aboriginal Party of Australia. His bio on the website and other media, however, seems to indicate the musician lives in Tasmania.
Family First candidate Maurice Davey is a farmer at Alectown and there are a number of references to his commitment to community and Christianity that can be found in various internet archives. He, like Trish Frail, appears to be doing the loyal party soldier job with minimal campaigning activity.
To big a seat for absentee candidates
As Fell chatted with the small crowd at Gunnedah through issues as diverse as accessing health care, roads, domestic violence, and cost of living, he reiterated that Parkes voters already had enough on their plate – they deserved the respect of not having voting made harder than it needs to be.
“It’s just really confusing for people.”
“They might think ‘oh I’m going to vote for this person because they’re an independent’ or whatever, but that person might be completely the opposite of what [the voter] is thinking or feeling.”
Fell had a particularly dim view of those candidates who did not live in Parkes.
“It disgraceful that these people are asking for the privilege to represent the electorate of Parkes, without coming here and speaking to people who live her, or being part of the community here.”
“I don’t understand how people who don’t live in the electorate are allowed to run.”
Speaking to New England Times today from pre-poll, Libertarian Sally Edwards agreed it was unhelpful to have paper candidates cluttering up the ballot.
“It’s a shame that they are on the ballot and that the rules permit it.”
“It’s more of a shame that the residents of Parkes have no way of knowing who is a paper candidate and who are the real candidates.”
New England Times has contacted and offered all candidates in both New England and Parkes the opportunity for a personal profile story.
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See more about the race in New England here
See more about the race in Parkes here