SYDNEY: Satellite telephones, emergency locator beacons, extra water supplies and tyres are just as important as how-to-vote cards and ballot papers in Australia’s outback seat of Kalgoorlie, the world’s largest electorate.

The seat of Kalgoorlie covers near 2.3 million sq km of Western Australia state, almost 10 times the size of Britain, and includes some of the world’s most rugged and arid deserts.

Candidates vying for this huge electorate at Australia’s Nov 24 election are staging military-like logistical campaigns to doorknock the gold, nickel, diamond and iron ore mining towns which dot Kalgoorlie, fuelling Australia’s commodities boom, or to visit voters in isolated desert aboriginal settlements.

A wrong turn on a dirt track to nowhere or a blown tyre can be life threatening in a land gripped by drought and where temperatures soar over 40 degrees Celsius.

Sharon Thiel, the opposition Labour candidate contesting Kalgoorlie, says she always carries a big green water container and spare tyres when she heads out to aboriginal communities.

“I have been living in the northwest for 20 years so I know what the dangers are and what you need to do if something happens,” Thiel said.

“One of the things is making sure you are in contact with someone. You have to tell people when you are leaving and when to expect you, and if they don’t hear from you then they send out the posse,” said Thiel.

The seat of Kalgoorlie stretches from the pearl farming town of Broome on the northwest coast, through arid but mineral rich deserts, to broad sheep, cattle and wheat farms in the south.

Ruling Liberal Party politician Barry Haase has held Kalgoorlie for nine years. He was born in Kalgoorlie’s goldfields and lived in the Pilbara mining belt for 20 years.

Labour had hoped to topple Haase at the last election in 2004, but its candidate had a heart attack at a hotel in the gold mining town of Kalgoorlie and died just weeks from polling day.

TYRANNY OF DISTANCE

Thiel, a mother of three who has lived in the iron ore town of Newman since 1989, has been criss-crossing the electorate by aircraft and car since May, clocking up tens of thousands of kilometres meeting miners, Aborigines and farmers.

But the tyranny of distance in Kalgoorlie poses not only a big challenge for campaigning politicians, but also for voters trying to make a living in the harsh environment.

Any politician talking about improvements to roads, rail or trucking receives an appreciative audience of outback voters, angry with rising petrol prices and bone-shaking drives.

A major issue in Kalgoorlie is infrastructure. Many voters feel they are fuelling Australia’s booming economy but not receiving a fair share of the wealth.

Prime Minister John Howard has overseen 11 years of economic growth, but badly trails Labour leader Kevin Rudd in opinion polls with many voters hurting from recent interest rate rises.

Another issue is health, with remote towns calling for more access to health services. Aborigines in Kalgoorlie, like the rest of Australia, are the nation’s most under-priviledged, with a life expectancy 17 years less than white Australians.

REMOTE POLLING

In order to ensure isolated Aborigines turn up to vote, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has already sent teams out into the desert to notify indigenous communities of the election.

A DVD has been produced in several aboriginal languages explaining the election process and election officials have made sure voting does not clash with aboriginal cultural events.

The AEC will send out remote polling teams to 72 communities between Nov 12-23, to gather votes ahead of election day. They will travel in four-wheel drives and aircraft, covering 9,500 km by air and 10,000 km by road.

“We provide GPS and EPIRBs (satellite tracking and emergency locator beacons) and satellite phones to ensure the safety of mobile polling teams. EPIRBs really are a must out there,” said Ian Stringall, AEC director of operations in Western Australia.

On election day, Nov 24, 88 polling booths will be set up in Kalgoorlie, from the Argyle diamond mine site to Useless Loop on an offshore island in Shark Bay. They will stretch across the same distance as from London to Palermo in Sicily.

Remote polling stations will be erected under trees, in community halls or machinery sheds, anywhere there is shelter from the blazing sun. Some will only exist for 45 minutes, enough time to gather a handful of votes, then disappear like a desert mirage, only to reappear at another remote location.

—Reuters