Now that another state election’s been called three years early for 19 July, we asked local people heading to Glenorchy’s Northgate shopping centre what they thought about the prospect of voting again.
The big parties might not be listening to you but boy Tasmanian Times is. In case you missed it we were also out and about in Rosny Bus Mall last week. Next week we’ll be in Launnie and elsewhere too.
If you’d like to help us with this series of vox pops (Latin for voices of the people) – so we can hear from even more Tasmanians – please drop a line to [email protected] and we’ll get back to you.
Each bold heading is a new person commenting.
The only reason I’m enrolling this time
“I’ve never voted or anything in me life, mate. I wouldn’t have a clue or anything about that. I haven’t enrolled. I know they don’t fine you for previous times you haven’t voted. I’ve got to get on to it. The only reason I’m going to enrol this time … I’m not into politics at all. This election I’ve sort of gotten into because of how that Dean Winter has gone about it and stuff. The way I look at it is … 12 months ago, didn’t we already have our say? Who we wanted to be Premier and whatnot? It just seems like we’re going all through it again just so he can have a crack at getting the top job, so it’s the only reason I’ve been thinking about voting is because I want to vote against him. I’ll be enrolling just to vote against him.”
I’ll cop the fine
TT: “Do you know about the state election?”
Person: “Not really.”
TT: “Do you know when it is?”
Person: “Nah.”
TT: “July 19. Have you heard about it? You know we had one about 15 months ago?”
Person: “Nah.”
TT: “Have you been following the stadium debate?”
Person: “I didn’t even know we’d be getting a stadium.”
TT: “You don’t follow politics? You don’t care?”
Person: “Nah.”
TT: “But you’ve got to vote…”
Person: “I’ll cop the fine.”
What’s happening?
“Oh the state election? I think I voted last year so I don’t think I need to vote again. What’s happening? I don’t know anything about it. I’m here for it. I think it’s good they’ve come together. Maybe they’re listening to what other people are saying. I don’t think people are happy with Jeremy. The stadium’s not going through is it? I heard on the radio coming home from mum’s today that it’s made out of Tassie timber. I don’t want it.”
I want the stadium
“I’m impartial, I’m not into politics. We just voted so I don’t really know about this one. It’s a rushed one isn’t it? I want the stadium so if someone’s against it, I’ll vote against them.”
In the neck
“The election? I don’t like it but hopefully one of the major parties will get in, in their own right, so they can govern without these independents and Greens getting minorities and telling them what to do. I think I’ll vote Liberal. I don’t like the way the other guy’s gone about it and think he’s going to get it in the neck, to be quite honest. I think people are pretty united. [The stadium] is a lot of money. They keep spouting housing but that’s been a problem for 20 years and no government’s addressed it so why bring it up now? I think it will be fabulous for the state to have the stadium.”
No worries
“It doesn’t worry me. I’m all for what the Premier’s doing. I’m going to vote for him.”
Not a good look
“I doesn’t look very good does it that we don’t have faith in our leaders. I can see both sides. Although I haven’t given it much thought.”
I’ll thinkz about it
TT: “Do you know about the new state election?”
Person: “I don’t really care.”
TT: “Do you know when it is?”
Person: “Nah.”
TT: “Do you have an opinion, given we had one recently?”
Person: “Nah.”
TT: “But you’ve got to vote…”
Person: “I’ll think about it when I get to it.”
TT: “Any factors going to influence your vote? Cost of living? Stadium?”
Person: “Nah. I have to look more into it. I need to educate myself.”
Good for me
TT: “There’s going to be another state election. Is that good or bad?”
Person: “It’s good for me.”
TT: “Why’s that?”
Person. “Get rid of the Liberals. Get the Labor in.”
TT: “What do you think about the no confidence motion?”
Person: “I don’t exactly know how it works but there seems to be a lot of debt. I don’t think it’s being run right. I don’t know if the stadium’s caused it. Yeah. Something needs to settle down somewhere, doesn’t it?”
I’ll just vote him back in
“It’s pretty crap isn’t it? No one wants another election after such a short period of time. I don’t agree with some of the things the government’s been doing but I don’t think it calls for another election. They should have worked it out. The two-party system is something that came into being when the idea of government was electorates would choose a representative and they would elect someone as spokesperson for the government and they would make decisions as a collective. Not as an Opposition and er… I will probably vote for the Liberals again. I don’t agree with the Greens, the death party’s policies. They want to kill the babies before they’re even born. And kill people before they go out.
Labor have a history of accumulating debt, which another government coming in always has to try and clear. Actually, the last Federal election I voted for independents. Or actually I voted for the Pauline Hanson party. And then I went for the independents over the parties because there’s not much difference between the two. And I don’t think there is state-wise either. Jeremy Rockliff will get my vote purely on the basis that if you look at the Labor party’s policies they won’t do anything different from what the Liberals are going to do. And it’s a useless exercise that costs the Tasmanian people just to end up with the same thing. Even if Labor get in it’s going to be no different. So I’ll just vote him back in.”
Tasmanian Times (TT) is a community-based news and current affairs service covering the island state of Tasmania. It exists to provide a diverse view of Tasmanian issues. TT creates and supports independent media content utilising the best of modern technologies and tried-and-true practices of public-interest journalism.
Support us in expanding our coverage and developing new content by and for Tasmanians.
New initiatives on the way include:
- a weekly podcast covering current affairs
- a revamped website
- a monthly cartoon competition
- a user-friendly app for both Android and Apple devices
- a weekly roundup of key stories
Roderick
June 15, 2025 at 12:26
I usually call it Fountaingate, but without the fountain.
Reading those responses, all I can say is … hmmm!
Ted Mead
June 15, 2025 at 14:22
Roderick, those examples are probably a biased selection of responses that found their way into this article. Even so, those comments and opinions indicate that, regarding the need for educated views, what we must face is that there may be a scary reality behind them.
Maybe a moderate IQ test should be taken for everyone before they contribute to such a vox pop* .. but that may result in no comments at all.
Tasmania must be the laughing stock of Australia’s intelligentsia!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* vox populi
In Latin, ‘vox populi’ literally means “voice of the people” in reference to ideas or opinions that most people share.
— www
Thinker
June 18, 2025 at 08:54
Ted, you are quite right in implying that Tasmanian ‘vox populi’ respondents may have low Intelligence Quotients.
Low Tasmanian IQs have made this a continuously mendicant state, and often a distressing curse for some new settlers.
Many Tasmanians think radically different to Mainlanders, and many such new arrivals find Tasmanians’ ultra weird reasoning processes absolutely incomprehensible.
Similarly, in 2012, some of Risdon’s prison employees utterly failed to recognise the value of Britain’s experienced prison management expert Barry Greenberry’s advanced and successful ideas which he tried to implement here concerning the civilised treatment of prisoners. Tragically, those employees, with their low IQs and their loathing and vicious attitudes, destroyed the man’s career here, and then his career and eventually his life when he returned to England. This example illustrates what I call “The Tasmanian Condition” very clearly. Tasmanian Times covered all this extremely well at the time.
It’s become increasingly obvious over decades, and monstrously expensive, that home grown Tasmanians just don’t have it in them to efficiently manage their own state in these increasingly troubled times, but Victorian administration from Melbourne (for example) would likely be overloaded with data management and control problems, especially in trying to reason with extremely ignorant, defiant and irrational Tasmanians.
Perhaps Tasmania’s most practical solution now would be to import immaculate administrative staff from elsewhere, particularly those who have demonstrable solid experience in Australia’s state administration challenges .. as assessed by anyone other than Tasmanians!
There’s more on this here where this appears: “Of course, if Tasmania ever chose to get really serious about its situation it could become an unincorporated territory as part of Victoria, like French Island. Eliminating all those state and local politicians along with thousands of bureaucrats would save a fortune.”