I meant to mention this as soon as I had done it, but well, as usual time got away from me. Last weekend was the Australian general election and I did my duty as a new(ish) Australian citizen by voting. Of course the privilege of playing a part in the democratic election of government in a country you were not born in is taken very seriously by most immigrants – especially if they are relatively new to the place. So, with a fair amount of pride I made my way to the nearest polling station on Saturday morning and stood in a snaking line which passed the obligatory sausage sizzle table, beneath the burning Australian sun and waited to perform my civic duty.
In the UK, if I had felt so inclined, I may have exercised my right to abstain from voting, however here, there are no such rights – everyone over the age of eighteen has to vote. How do they make you do that? Well if you don’t get your name ticked off the electoral roll, which is done when you turn at the polling station, you are slapped with a $50 fine, unless you can prove there was no way you could have made it. This is of course a great incentive to make people play a part in the election of a new government or the return of the existing one. You have to have very strong convictions to say “No, I refuse to vote as all politicians are untrustworthy” or words to that effect and not turn up - $50 buys a lot of beer…
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