Organised random thoughts, which will hopefully provoke discussion or another way of thinking

As one of the 200 “swinging voters” selected for last night’s National Leader’s Forum in Brisbane, I thought I’d give you an insight into the process and the actual forum itself. If you wish to contact me with any questions you have, feel free to post them to the blog and I’ll answer them as best I can.

SELECTION:

I received a call from Q&A Research at 8:06pm on Monday night just after the Forum was mooted on the 7:30 Report (I’m registered with them for paid market research).

The questioner asked me a series of questions:

–          My age bracket

–          If the election was held now – which party would I vote for (Labor, Liberal, Greens or other)?

–          If I usually voted a particular way

After answering those, I was deemed worthy of attending the event and would be paid $50 for the evening (hey, a pineapple’s a pineapple in this allegedly healthy post-GFC economy we live in!).

THE EVENT:

After an early dinner, I lined up with the throng to get in and noticed some protestors over the road from the Club – including a giant blow-up spliff! I didn’t realise pro-marijuana was a big issue in the campaign, but it seems like it is!

I took a seat toward the back of the auditorium, as it turns out, right among the throng of journos following the campaign. Immediately, Tony Moore from Brisbane Times asked if I could be one of his subjects for the evening.

It struck me that the room was much better branded than the Rooty Hill forum – News Limited’s marketing and branding people probably got a good kick after Rooty Hill – and deservedly so.

The crowd represented a pretty decent cross-section I thought, I was sat next to a couple of Gen Y’ers, there was a group of public servants in front of me (one of which was either Tony Abbott’s love child or significantly younger brother), a group of younger people and some older people.

Mr. Abbott entered the room with no announcement and proceeded to meet voters. Once he got to where I was, he shook hands with Mr. Moore and cracked a lame joke about tweeting already (actually I was the Tweeter, not the journo!) before heading through the rat pack.

I fully expected Ms. Gillard to storm the room and confront Mr. Abbott and turn the forum into a debate – considering how poorly the media played the “rush” to fill the auditorium on Wednesday, it would have added some unique theatre to the campaign, but alas, I was wrong.

His performance began slowly I thought, then about halfway through he got into stride and the ‘true Tony’ came out. Early on, the questions didn’t give him much to work with, but gathered pace as the hour wound through. I like the pragmatism of Abbott – if he doesn’t know the answer to something – he will say ‘I don’t know’, rather than getting wound up in spin buying him time to try and find an answer like his adversary.

I didn’t like his answer about having infinite oil reserves or his answer that ‘The Greens will never govern Australia’ – write off the perceived weaker at your own peril, Tony!

A quick vox pop with Mr. Moore and then a break. You’d swear some of the people there had never seen a party pie the way they swarmed the food.

Next, Ms. Gillard arrived. Her hair’s much bigger in real life! She looked a little fresher than Mr. Abbott up close.

Make no mistake, Julia is a very polished performer – if this Prime Minister thing doesn’t work out, she could – and would – be able to give Nicole Kidman a run for her money.

She hit the ground running, but her answers just weren’t direct – and toward the end, she was losing her audience, evidenced by the murmuring among the crowd. The classic was her answer to the question about the NBN. After sort of answering the question, she went on about “The Broadband” and bringing doctors into your home. On another question, I tuned out altogether, looked up two minutes later and she was still banging on with the same answer!

After summing up my thoughts for the Brisbane Times and a quick grab with the Australian Financial Review, it was all over, then the journos had to pack up their mini-media centre and off to the next engagement (which I think was home in Canberra for some). I was feeling drained and thought a beer would help gather my thoughts.

THE VERDICT

On the way out, we had to place our armbands into a box as to who we thought had performed the best. For keeping his audience, answering questions directly and with honesty – I was one of the 75 that gave my nod to Abbott. 83 gave their nod to Gillard, with a further 42 abstaining.

Interestingly, despite being assured our armbands were completely anonymous, our cash envelopes were numbered. On reflection, I realised the number on my envelope corresponded to my armband, however I didn’t take notice if this number was recorded on the sign-on sheet – I’m guessing yes.

So Galaxy would know exactly who considered themselves a Labor or Liberal voter going in, their age and which way they went in this straw poll! Maybe that could explain the 42 that abstained?

Overall, this style of debate works well for some sectors of the public. It addressed some of the smaller issues that have dominated the campaign.

There were still no questions about innovation – truly moving Australia forward, our trading partnerships (although Ms. Gillard did mention China – the first time our biggest trading partner has been mentioned this campaign!), an Afghanistan exit strategy or those types of issues.

Whilst I was a swinging voter in terms of the popularity contest between Abbott and Gillard, in my native seat (Hunter, NSW), my mind was made up before the ballot printed.

Since the start of the campaign, the two leaders have basically met each other in the middle. They are singing from similar hymn sheets now. My dislike of Ms. Gillard has waned over the last few weeks – I’m finding her on occasion warm and disarming, whilst my liking for Mr. Abbott has also diminished, but Gillard showed last night that she’s nothing but Rudd with dyed hair – those lining up behind her are the ones to watch out for.

On Saturday, I think we’ll see a strong protest vote to the Greens and other minor parties and indeed they could hold the balance of power in the House. Nevertheless, 17 seats is a lot for the Coalition to win – I think Gillard will govern, but it would be nice to see “The Rabbit” catch the Greyhound for a change….

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The Brisbane Times articles that quote “The House” (We even change name halfway through the first one!):

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/federal-election/undecided-voters-hope-for-twoforone-deal-at-broncos-leagues-club-20100818-12ewi.html

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/federal-election/gillard-and-abbott-faceoff-at-brisbane-forum-20100819-12fef.html