When we vote, we vote for 2 things.

1. Someone to speak for our electorate. (House of Representatives – small green paper)
2. People to speak for NSW. (Senate – the long piece of paper)

House of representatives
(Small green paper)

The person voted in represents our local area in Federal Parliament.

Last edition, the Wilcannia News talked about the PARKES electorate. It’s big. It looks like this….

20 council areas (plus a bit of Dubbo) make up this one electorate.

Everyone in these 20 council areas, picks a person from the same list.

Since 1984, the seat has been held by a National party member. From 2007 until now, it has been Mark Coulton. He recently retired.

Every electorate in Australia has their own choice of candidates. For us, in the Parkes electorate, we have 10 candidates. Two of these are Aboriginal people. Bob Wilson, born in Wilcannia and Trish Frail of Brewarrina.

For your vote to count,

• you must number every box 1 – 10. (1 = your first choice)
• your numbers must be clear (Sometimes 1’s and 7’s can look similar. Or 7’s and 4’s.)

Senate
(Long, white paper)

Here we are voting, along with every other NSW voter, for people to represent our state.

There is a choice to vote Above the line or Below the line.

Above the line, number from 1 – 6. You pick the whole party.

Below the line, number from 1 – 12. You pick individuals.

Local man, Owen Wyman, is a candidate in the Senate for his Indigenous – Aboriginal Party of Australia.

• When: Saturday 3rd May 2025
• What: Federal Election
• How: A polling place will be set up at the Wilcannia Hall from 8am – 6pm

If you are registered to vote in another state or Territory, you cannot vote in Wilcannia. The closest polling booth is:

• PCYC Broken Hill
• 58 Gypsum St.
• 8am – 6pm

If you are registered in NSW but will be in Mildura on 3rd May, you need to vote at:

• Mildura Senior Citizens Club
• 129 Tenth St, Mildura
• 8am – 6pm

This article appeared in Wilcannia News, 29 April 2025.