Voter issues revealed as polling starts
THOUSANDS of Toowoomba residents have already cast their ballots in the upcoming federal election, as four prepolling booths were packed with early voters on Monday.
Pensioner support, aged care, cost of living, healthcare and an upcoming anti-corruption commission were among the issues listed by locals after casting their votes.
THOUSANDS of Toowoomba residents have already cast their ballots in the upcoming federal election, as four prepolling booths were packed with early voters on Monday.
A strong turnout of older and more decided voters on the first day of polling has favoured incumbent Garth Hamilton, who has drawn solid support in The Chronicle’s exit polling across two booths.
Of the 100 people anonymously surveyed outside the Toowoomba City early voting centre on Ruthven Street and another at the old council depot on Anzac Avenue, 53 of them said they had given their first preference to Mr Hamilton.
Labor’s Gen Allpass earned support from 19 respondents, while independent Suzie Holt finished third with 12 votes.
One Nation’s Grant Abraham was the only other candidate to hit double digits.
While the exit polling hardly predicts the outcome, it gives a strong indication of the LNP’s level of support among older residents.
It comes just a few weeks after The Chronicle’s online survey revealed a percentage of traditional Coalition voters were considering switching their support, most notably to Ms Holt and Labor.
Pensioner support, aged care, cost of living, healthcare and an upcoming anti-corruption commission were among the issues listed by locals after casting their votes.
Disability pensioner Barbara Talbot said that the cost of living was the defining feature of the campaign, not just for her but many other people.
“(We need) to give pensioners more help and more money,” she said.
“They seem to be looking after workers, although the workers need more money too because everything is going up.
“We really need to help the pensioners because everything is going up and we can’t keep up with it.
“I’m a pensioner myself, we’re trying to keep up with the rent and it’s a large challenge.”
Sandra McCarthy said she wanted to see more support for aged care and public transport, noting she had given support to Mr Hamilton.
“The issues were aged care, health and public transport,” she said.
“It was probably the standing member – I just stick with who I know.”
Rusted-on Labor voter Mike Mulligan said establishing a federal integrity commission was one of his top priorities.
“The integrity commission was vital to me, and like everyone else, cost of living,” he said. “Fortunately, we’re reasonably well-off (but) we don’t want the haves and have-nots developing a huge gulf like they have overseas.
“There are enough problems going on in the world. I’m a Labor voter and I’m quite proud of it.”
Mr Hamilton was busy handing out how-to-vote cards in the CBD, while candidates Ms Allpass, Ms Holt and Mr Abraham were all spotted manning polling booths.
Toowoomba has four booths open during pre-polling, in response to strong demand for early and postal voting.