Postal Vote

Queensland is having a state election on March 24th to determine who will be our premier. I missed out on voting in the general election of 2010 as I had only become a citizen a month beforehand and the authorities didn't have time to get me onto the electoral roll. This time I'm leaving nothing to chance and have applied for a postal vote as I'll be working on election day.

In Australia it is compulsory to vote;  if you don't, you'll get a $20 fine. If you don't pay the fine, you could be prosecuted. As a result, Australia has a very high voter turnout! And don't worry if you think every candidate is a dud: you can choose to spoil your ballot paper in protest. Personally, after being here for nearly 7 years, I'm excited to finally have my say.

Census Day 2011

The Australian Census of Population and Housing occurs every 5 years and is happening tonight all around Australia. This year is a bit of a landmark as it is the 100th birthday of the census. To celebrate, I decided to download the 1911 census and see how life was back then. I'm afraid there was just too much writing for the likes of me so instead I have provided you with the link in case you are interested and have a few days to spare.

Why the Vegemite? No clever reason... it was sitting there on the kitchen bench and I needed to add a bit more colour to the shot. I have grown to tolerate it spread thinly on hot buttered toast when I am extremely, eye-crossingly  hungry