Voters living in remote communities were among those heading along to early polls today. In Pirlangimpi on the Tiwi islands north of Darwin, jobs, housing, roads and wellbeing support were the key issues for voters today.
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00:00It's approaching 35 degrees in Perlingimpy as we touch down, with a line forming at the
00:08local council on the first day of remote voting.
00:1130 teams going out over the next two weeks, 200 locations, very complex logistically.
00:18Lingiari is one of the country's largest electorates stretching from here in the Tiwi Islands to
00:24the South Australian border.
00:26It means election issues can be varied, but voters in Perlingimpy want work.
00:31There's not enough job around here in this small community.
00:35We want more new opportunities.
00:39But they're not holding their breath, while so many long-term demands remain unanswered.
00:44I'm arguing about our roads, houses, move houses with over-credited houses, yeah so we're still
00:52dropping up and down and hopefully the government will do something about it.
00:57We need women refuge, a cooling of centre for the men, but it hasn't happened.
01:07I'm 67 now, so I'm still talking about it.
01:13More than 90% of people in the Northern Territory are enrolled to vote, but in Bush seats like
01:18these, less than 45% of people actually showed up to vote during last year's Territory election.
01:24That means voter engagement has been a major focus for the AEC this year.
01:29Getting people on the roll is the first step, and we've done a massive amount of work to
01:33get a record number of Indigenous electors on the roll.
01:36Apathy for the political process and a lack of information play a role in low turnout,
01:41but the AEC are hoping to turn that around by making it to every corner of the Territory.
01:47We're using around 45 four-wheel drives over the next two-week period.
01:51We have around 20 charter flights that will be operating, and at this stage around four helicopters
01:56in play.
01:58A massive electorate with a tiny population, every vote worth the effort.