Preferences are Keay for Braddon
CRITICAL preferences flows from minor parties in this weekend’s Braddon by-election will strongly favour Labor candidate Justine Keay.
With opinion polling suggesting neither Ms Keay nor Liberal rival Brett Whiteley are set to command an outright majority, the best-placed of the minor parties are preferencing Labor ahead of the Liberals.
There are eight candidates standing in Braddon.
Of the six minor party and independent candidates, three are preferencing Labor above the Liberals on their how-to-vote cards. One is preferencing the Liberals first, one is not issuing a how-to-vote card and another did not respond to interview requests.
The campaign paused yesterday as high-profile drop-ins took the day off and candidates concentrated on doorknocking and street campaigning.
Greens candidate Jarrod Edwards took part in a protest against plans to reopen fourwheel-drive tracks in the Arthur-Pieman.
Mr Edwards said that while attention was focused on the big-spending battle between Ms Keay and Mr Whiteley, he was trying to build his party’s support in an electorate where it did not generally do well and he was detecting more awareness of core Greens issues — such as the push to protect the Tarkine.
“If I look at the polls and take into consideration what I hear from people on the street, people’s attitudes have changed considerably,” he said.
“People have started to embrace the idea that tourism is going to be more important into the future.
“For someone in their first foray into politics in an electorate that doesn’t typically like Greens this has been a bit of an experience.”
Mr Edwards said he had not given any thought to how much of the vote he would garner or what role his preferences would play in the final outcome.
“I didn’t go into this thinking about that at all. What it’s about for me is about standing up for the things I believe in and the things that are important to the people in my community.
“I stood because the Greens constantly get bashed by the major parties and by the media.
“I try not to get too much into the preferences … people in this electorate and the country in general have become so disillusioned with the major parties that the minor parties are going to eat away at their voter base.
“The nature of democracy in this country is changing.
“We’ve been treated with utter contempt.
“The problem that’s going to make for the major parties in the future, it doesn’t matter what they promise, without the voters of the minor parties they’re nothing.”