Queensland Election – Mansfield

Being from NSW, starting the day with "road siding" was new for me as I had never been exposed to this campaigning technique which is common place here in the South East Brisbane seat of Mansfield. I was overwhelmed by the positive response towards Ian Walker, the fantastic member and candidate here. 

After road siding we headed off for a few hours of letter boxing - something a bit more familiar! In the afternoon we went to pre-poll and into the evening we started the preparation of booth boxes for polling day. 

For me, today being my first day of campaigning in QLD, it's interesting to see the differences between the electoral rules across the states, for example, QLD has recently changed to compulsory preferential voting, like our federal system, whereas in NSW is optional preferential. 

Another major difference is that QLD is not bicameral. With only one House of Parliament, it is even more vital to be in government and be out in full force advocating a for the local members and candidates. 

My fellow EDO, David Wells has been here since the Sunday before last and with no prior campaign experience had a lot to learn in the weeks prior to polling day. 

A clear highlight of last week in the Mansfield electorate for David was being invited to do a walk through of Garden City shopping centre with a politician. It wasn't until he arrived that he realised that the politician was John Howard! 

Overall it's been a really great experience for me to see the differences between campaigns in NSW and QLD. For David, learning the ins and outs of a campaign has been a new and exciting experience. We really appreciate this opportunity and want to thank Ian Walker and the entire team in Mansfield. Bring on Saturday!

Stella is a member of the NSW Young Liberals and David is a member of the Tasmanian Young Liberals