Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (left) and opposition leader Bill Shorten shake hands as they arrive for the leaders’ debate at the National Press Club in Canberra
Overseas voting for the Australian Federal Election began on Monday, for the nationwide decision that will culminate in Election Day on July 2.
Australians living in Macau who are intending to vote, will have to travel to Hong Kong to the Australian Consulate General or mail their vote home to vote. But the polling booths are only available to would-be-voters during the institution’s opening hours, causing potential problems for full-time workers.
The Times contacted several Australian nationals living in Macau, who indicated that since they have lived overseas for more than six years, they were not registered to vote and had been “disenfranchised.”
“Australian expats are not required to vote and if they intend to stay overseas for over six years then they become ineligible to vote,” Rev. Stephen Durie told the Times. “I have been living overseas for 25 years so I am well disenfranchised.”
Durie also indicated that he had no comments on the election or its key issues as he is “not sufficiently in touch” to provide an opinion.
Citizens of Australia are normally required by law to vote in federal elections. However they can avoid this requirement if they are not registered to vote (around 10 percent of the population according to the BBC), have been out of the country for at least six years, or can produce “a valid and sufficient reason for not voting,” according to the Australian Electoral Commission.
Voting inconvenience may also present a factor inhibiting the willingness and ability of Australians living overseas to vote, especially for those who may not be able to go to the Consulate General during working hours.
“It’s not just convenience but it’s can you or can’t you?” posited Julie Kirkman speaking to TDM. “You can’t take a day off work to go and vote.”
Others point out that there is little difference between the two major contenders in the Australian parliament, the Liberal-National Coalition and the Australian Labor Party.
“One issue that just to me exemplifies everything is that both sides of parliament in Australia treat refugees and immigration in a disgusting way, but they’re both the same [sic],” local scholar Richard Whitfield told TDM.
Immigration is likely to be the central issue in next month’s election. Australia has been shamed in recent years for its treatment of immigrants and its controversial policy of relocating them to Pacific states and Indian Ocean islands such as Papa New Guinea, Nauru, Manus Island and Christmas Island.
Some of these countries accept refugees and illegal immigrants from Australia in return for Australian aid to expedite their development. The system has become informally known as the “Pacific Solution,” after the actual policy implemented during 2001 and 2007. It was partially revived in 2012 by a Labor government.
The number of refugees worldwide reached their highest level ever, the UN refugee agency said this week, surpassing that even of the Second World War.
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