[Beyond the Rona is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Queensland Greens. Views and opinions contained within this episode are those of the individual.]

‘Tis the week before Federal Election 2022 and Tim and Andrea are joined by fellow volunteer and Logan Greens Branch Spokesperson, Dave Kolcze to give some behind-the-scenes insight into what it’s been like during the first week of early voting in Rankin during this election period. All three are hoping for change, and so are many of the people they have met during the past 6 days of pre-poll.

Tim, Andrea and Dave discuss:

• Interactions and conversations with voters
• Experiences on the different booths – Springwood, Woodridge and Browns Plains
• The types of people coming through pre-poll this week, what issues are important to them and how passionate they are about these issues
• Problems at the booths eg: the choice of venue, the way it’s set up, safety issues, carpark issues, accessibility issues, suitability for the community it serves
• How are voters choosing who to vote for
• Cultural and language issues

Dave discusses a policy platform that is close to his heart – dental and mental health into Medicare.

Andrea talks about the WeChat social media platform, used by 86% of the Australian-Chinese community to get Chinese Language news and how this platform is being harnessed by our politicians for political use during this election.

Dave talks about finding volunteers and notes you don’t have to be over 18 to volunteer at the booth.

We did a combined 3 Big Ideas for this coming Election Week:

Dave: 1: Use Social Media

Tim: 2: Volunteer on a booth

Andrea: 3: Unify to kick out Scomo

Beyond the Rona Podcast is recorded in Logan, Queensland on Yuggera country. We acknowledge the traditional owners past and present.