Mobile polling and the Aboriginal vote: The federal election

Abstract

The study reported in this volume was conducted with the permissions and support of the Australian Electoral Commission and it is published as a report to the Commission. Similar reports on mobile polling in the 1980 and 1983 Northern territory elections - under Territory legislation - have been published in Dean Jaensch and P Loveday, eds, Under One Flag, The 1980 Northern Territory Election (George Allen and Unwin and NARU, 1981) and in P. Loveday and Dean Jaench, eds, A Landslide Election, The NT1983 (NARU, 1984). The arrangement with the Electoral Commission gave NARU observes official status with the polling teams. Detailed preparations for accompanying the polling teams were worked out with Divisional Returning Officers or their deputies in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. We wish to acknowledge the unstinting cooperation of David Muffett, Terry Emerson, Brian Howard and Danny Wallace and the general support given by Andrej Cirulis. The careful work of the observers should also be acknowledged: Deborah Wade-Marshall, Raelene Cummings, Rolf Gerritsen, Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh, will Sanders, Wayne Mollah and Scott Cane. And the work of support staff in NARU who prepared the manuscript - Elaine Sommer, Denise Goodfellow and Robyn Darben - is also acknowledged with thanks. The author was also one of the observers and, with help from Deborah Wade-Marshall, coordinator of the observer team.