It's election day. It’s time to do something for yourself. It’s your chance to make your vote count.
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Election campaigns are wearying. Physically casting your vote is a bit of a chore, something many see as akin to a visit to a dentist.
But we are lucky. Voting is a right that our forebears fought for, that others in other countries die for.
It may seem that a single vote gets lost in a system battered and bruised by the very humanity that it requires and produces.
But it does not. Hold on to that powerful thought. In the south-west, we have been ignored in favour of other areas more important to the main political parties as they seek to drag the electoral pendulum their way.
We have missed the funding and attention that we deserve given the value of our agricultural produce, our tourism, the ingenuity and drive of small business in a place where the “can do” attitude thrives and our resilience in the face of bushfires and other disasters.
We have problems. Some – not all – can be fixed by money and government policy.
It beggars belief that we have weathered the tempests of candidates’ sales pitches and still have no cast-iron commitments to full funding for a new or redeveloped hospital and upgrades to our dangerous and dilapidated roads. Public transport is little better although long overdue money is being spent to upgrade the rail system and the coalition is promising an outlandish sum for fast regional rail.
What we need is energetic, evidential and successful advocacy on our behalf.
The Standard does not care who wins the seat of South West Coast or Upper House seats come Saturday night.
The Standard cares about what those poll winners can do to improve the region, our lives and our future.
It is beyond argument that if we make our seats marginal then we become the squeaky wheels that get the good oil.
So don’t vote as you have always done. Don’t vote for a personality. Don’t be a donkey and make your vote invalid.
Vote for yourself. Vote for your kids. Vote for the region.