The first stall I come across is an As One Australia candidate A.(Tony) Kane. He is using the Nationals green and yellow colour scheme and he and his son are distributing pamphlets and enroll to vote cards from a table with hand printed signs hanging off it displaying Tony’s views on certain issues. 

Tony is a farmer and Hypnotherapist who voiced his concerns about the health of the country and its individual members.  On his pamphlet Tony lists his interests as people, current affairs, politics, fishing and social justice. Tony speaks with passion on the nuclear industry and the health aspects of it (good and bad) and invites me to meet a sick mate who wants to get his story out about the affects of working at theLucasHeights reactor. Tony seems like the sort of candidate the Nationals would have and I wonder if he was a National at one stage.

The candidate preselected for the nationals (who hold the  marginal seat) Chris Gulaptis has a large picture of himself, put up behind a card table filled with phamplets and small note pads that he has been distributing to electors over the last few weeks.  Chris shows me a small box of note pads and points out that they are all he has left of ten thousand.  Chris has given up working (he is a surveyor) to concentrate on the election and he is in Lismore today to meet more of the people that he has to connect with to win.

Chris is 52 years old but looks younger and has a friendly and outgoing nature.  He has been heartily endorsed by the retiring sitting member Ian Causley (Chris has helped in Ian’s previous campaigns) and has experience campaigning as a local councilor.  He is dressed casually in t shirt and pants and not the usually collared shirt the suit of the nationals.  He discusses the issues that people have brought up with him during door knocks and the fact that 75% of people are not really engaged with the political process.  He doesn’t know if he will enjoy the “job” because of tight rope you have to walk representing the party and the electorate but says he is mainly interested in outcomes, getting things done and hopes that he can have wins for the electorate. Chris’s pamphlet has a section on it recruiting for helpers and Chris says that he knows he has to have a good team behind him to win.  He has a good corner position at the markets and is enjoying himself today.  His wife is in Yamba today and he is also getting help from his two sons.

The Labor stall is the larger than the Nationals in its physical size.  It is decorated with Australian flags and has large posters of Kevin Rudd and Janelle Saffin. (preselected ALP candidate ) Janelle is not there and the elderly man sitting at the stall says she is in Casino today.  He says it is best to contact her by the email as she is so busy campaigning she is hard to reach by phone. The stall has Labor membership forms, enroll to vote cards and an A4 sheet of information about Janelle and her contact phone number.  There is also a business card with a photo of her, a mailing address and other forms of contact on it.  She is the only candidate with a wallet size marketing tool. I did not see any Kevin 07 T-shirts. Labor highlights the issue of workplace laws on the A4 and Janelle’s local credentials.  It does not mention her history as a member of NSW legislative council.

Across from Labor there is a your rights at work stall.  Chris has told me it is staffed by the unions but most on it say they are not union members or retired. I recognize a local teacher and community activist from my own village. It is the largest stall there and they have petitions to sign.  A worker tells me they are getting a good response and it is a big issue in the voters’ minds. This stall has the most workers and take away material of all the stalls. It uses the orange and black colors of the union campaign and is not identifiable as Labor. There are a lot of people around the stall talking to the workers and picking up the badges and stickers.  Chris Gulaptis had indicated to me that IR is not an issue with the people he has had contact with.

Markets are an avenue for a start-up business to gauge the interest in their product.  From my excursion today I see the candidates using the markets in the same way. The parties used tried and true methods of take a way pamphlets, listening and small innovations such as business cards and note pads as a way of sticking with the voter. The rights at work stall workers thought that the Labor candidate should have been there that day.  There was still time for her to put in an appearance.  She might have had a more pressing engagement in Casino.

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