Three locals share thoughts ahead of State Election

THREE locals share their thoughts with the Eastern Reporter ahead of the State Election this weekend.

MAYLANDS hockey player Aleisha Power admits she has more knowledge about Donald Trump than Colin Barnett or Mark McGowan ahead of her first State Election vote this Saturday.

The 20-year-old WA Diamonds goalkeeper, who previously voted in last year’s Federal Election, said she had been casually following the State Election campaign.

“To be honest, I actually have more knowledge on American politics at the moment than Australian politics,” she said.

“There have been a lot of arguments about privatisation of Western Power and the Roe 8 highway.

“There have also been a lot of big campaigns by the Labor party and there have been a few campaigns by the Liberal party that have not actually been bad.”

Power said not many people aged 18 to 25 followed the election.

“I do not know who I am going to vote for but my parents think the Liberals are doing a good job,” she said.

“Honestly, I do not know the difference and I do not know who is better or who is worse.

“I do not think it is really targeted towards us even though we are supposed to vote, I think it is really targeted towards people over 25.”

Power said she was not looking forward to voting because she would be arriving back from a hockey trip to Canberra on Friday.

MAYLANDS small business owner Leo Flavel says he wants better preserved wetlands, maximised state resources and increased scrutiny of imported goods following the State Election this weekend.

Mr Flavel has been self-employed since 2004, opened art gallery Studio 281 in 2007 and last year added gallery space Ferguson Foundry to the site.

He said he did not listen to the multiple “fake promises” made by the parties during pre-polling.

“I base my votes on past actions by the parties,” he said.

“They’re marketing campaigns haven’t reached out to me and I wouldn’t be interested in pre-election promises.

“Everyone promises light rail before the election – nothing happens for four years.”

Mr Flavel said preservation of wetlands was his number one priority and also a lot more scrutiny was needed on the quality of products coming into Australia.

“I bought a can opener yesterday and it broke before I even used it,” he said.

“The consumers are always going to go to the cheaper products… this is taking away income from real Aussies making good products.

“(Also) I think we should be maximising our resources; anyone in the world can come along and buy a mining lease and be exporting for virtually no tax or benefit to Australia at all.”

He said the Roe 8 “debacle” would play a role in his vote.

Mr Flavel said neither Labor nor Liberal looked after small businesses.

A SENIOR Bassendean resident says any announcement made in the last week before the State Election is “wasted”.

Bruce Keay (71) said the pre-polling process was one of the biggest issues of any State Election.

“The WA Electoral Commission (WAEC) predicts that about 25 per cent of voters will vote in pre-polling,” he said.

“It really means that political parties need to make sure that their policies are announced two weeks before Election Day.”

According to the WAEC, early voting was available from February 20 until Friday.

Mr Keay said this year’s campaign had changed the way he might vote.

“I think the campaign has been quite good on both sides,” he said.

“I do not believe everything that everybody says.

“I must admit, I was not much in favour of Labor because I cannot see how they are going to balance the budget as they say they are.”

He said he was looking forward to seeing the results of the electronic voting trial.