Throughout the campaign, the ABC’s ‘Your Say’ project has heard from 10,000’s of voters about what matters most to them this election. The responses have covered issues big and small but have also revealed frustrations among some voters at the lack of big ideas in the campaign. As well as a willingness to see minor parties and independents joining the government benches.
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00:00For half a century the New South Wales seat of Cowper was safe national party territory.
00:08Now it's marginal.
00:09Probably one of the few times in my life as a voter where that's been the case.
00:14The sitting member is under serious challenge from an independent and that's a story repeated
00:18across the country as the two major parties watch their share of the primary vote shrink
00:24at each election.
00:25There's no move to any radical social progress if I can put it that way from either of the
00:33parties.
00:34Up the Pacific Highway in Peter Dutton's own electorate you can hear the same thing.
00:40A lot of people have had enough of the two major parties and they're looking for alternatives.
00:45I've generally been Labor but I'm probably edging more towards the independent.
00:54According to the polls Labor is within reach of majority government but it's still entirely
01:00possible that neither party will reach that threshold and will have to negotiate with minor
01:05parties and independents to form government.
01:08That's something Australia hasn't seen since Julia Gillard was Prime Minister after forming
01:13government with the support of three independents and one Greens MP.
01:18But your say is telling us that's not something people are worried about.
01:22As the campaign ends there are two really strong themes that are emerging from your say.
01:27One of them is that voters want to see more big, bold, visionary policy offerings from the
01:32major parties.
01:33Ideas that go beyond the horizon of the next election.
01:37And the other is that they think sharing government with independents or minor parties might be a way
01:42of making that happen.
01:43I would so look forward to having a minority government.
01:47More collaboration and more consensus is good for democracy and I think it is good for policy
01:52as well and I think it can really push some good ideas into being.
01:57They may not get their wish this time around but the trend is their friend.