Australians in Singapore Cast Votes in Election

Thousands of Australians in Singapore have already cast their ballots for Saturday's election. Australians living overseas aren't required to vote, but that didn't stop many from making the effort to get their voices heard.

Voting in Australia's federal election was well underway in Singapore on Friday, where thousands of Australians living in the city-state cast their vote.

The Australian High Commissioner to Singapore says there's been a steady stream of voters since polls opened on August 16.

[Doug Chester, Australian High Commissioner to Singapore]:
"Since we opened our voting here last week, so over the last week and this week, we've had nearly 1,500 people come in to vote, and by the end of today we're expecting that to be up to 2,000. And of course on Election Day tomorrow we're expecting a significant increase in the number of people coming in to vote. It's been going very very smoothly, no long queues."

With 4,000 Australians expected to vote in Singapore, it is the third largest polling place for Australians living overseas, behind London and Hong Kong.

While voting is compulsory in Australia, it is not compulsory for Australians living overseas. However many of the Australians at the High Commission say they wanted to make their vote count, as they expected a very close election.

[Chris, Voter]:
"Partly because, neither prime ministerial candidate is very appealing, I'm afraid to say. I was actually in Australia when the prime minister changed. It happened overnight, without any warning, and I think it was a shock to a lot of Australians, including myself."

Peter Waring and his wife have lived in Singapore for the last seven years.

Waring says the mining tax is one of the most important issues for him.

[Peter Waring, Voter]:
"I certainly believe that there should be a mining tax. Once you sell the resources, you can only sell them once and I think there are great benefits to be had from selling our natural wealth and for appropriate taxation to be placed on those sales."

But for his wife, the national broadband network issue ranks the highest.

[Tiffany See, Voter]:
"Parties have I guess similar policies, but they're actually quite different in how they want to execute the policies, and having lived in Singapore that is such a technology-savvy country, I think the Labor party's policy on this is much more compelling. Even though it's a much higher cost, it's a much more compelling policy than the Liberal party."

There are approximately 30,000 Australians in Singapore at any one time, with around 23,000 living and working in the city-state.

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