THE Mount Isa mobile Indigenous polling group travelled across North West Queensland in the fortnight leading up to Saturday’s federal election.
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Team members, including locally based polling officials Sheree Speechley and Anthony Cranston, are encouraging marginalised Indigenous people to vote on who their political leader should be.
The polling group have or will visit the Arthur Peterson Centre as well as the Ngukuthati Children and Family Centre in Mount Isa, Cannington Mine in McKinlay, Urandangi, Dajarra, Phosphate Hill, Doomadgee, Gregory, and Burketown within the fortnight before the election.
There were 26 voters at the Arthur Peterson Centre on Monday, according to Indigenous Electoral Participation Program (IEPP) manager Simone Jordan.
The IEPP hoped to continue regular enrolment drives in future visits to the centre to encourage votes in future elections and the referendum, Ms Jordan said.
Ms Speechley said it was her third election as a polling official.
She took a fortnight off from her work at women’s shelter Nawamba House during each of those elections.
Ms Speechley’s role included offering the positives of voting, and discourage negatives such as being fined.
“They (Nawamba House) know I’m passionate about it.
“This is our country and we should very well have a say on who runs it,” she said.
“The key to everything is knowledge.
“If we knew more about it (voting) as a people, if we understand more, I’m sure we can have a say.
“Many drops makes a river, doesn’t it? A raging river.”