Kate Burton

, originally uploaded by doitforlove.

Well, who could have predicted this?! At close of counting last night Andrew was sitting on about 5000 primary votes, which translates to 8.45% of the vote - a fraction over half a quota. About 80% of the votes are counted so Andrew will finish a little better than this, but we won't know just how well for another 10 days or so, after postal votes are counted and preferences are distributed.
Andrew, the Greens and the Liberals are now vying for the fifth seat in Denison. Whatever the final result, Andrew could not have wished for much better at this stage. Congratulations Andrew and everyone who supported him and the campaign.

election day!, originally uploaded by doitforlove.

"Well we made it. Exactly 52 weeks of campaigning have finally come to an end and I think we've surprised a lot of people by being in the race today. But in any case we've energised the public discussion on vital issues and giving hope to some, not just about pokies but the fact that there's a credible independent to vote for. It's really been a family effort, Kate for holding the family and home together and the two little girls for being so good about their daddy's long absences.
So many people sense that change is coming today to Tasmania and we share that sense. Whatever happens, things must change."
- Andrew Wilkie

getting dressed, originally uploaded by doitforlove.

Andrew's raced into the house between working at the shop and appearing at the Taroona Ex-Serviceman's Club monthly meeting. After that he'll return to the shop where he'll spend most of the afternoon and into the evening greeting well-wishers, answering constant phone calls and emails. One more sleep...

2 days to go!, originally uploaded by doitforlove.

Well, the counter on the Van of Numbers has nearly reached its target of $856,000,000. With two days to go Andrew is still knocking on doors and responding to questions from interested voters. We are both surprised and pleased by the number of people who research their vote, asking questions on specific policy areas such as disability, elective surgery, euthanasia and community safety.
Meanwhile the Labor Party is doing it all it can to turn voters off, bombarding them with negative advertising and even robotic phone calls which aim to scare people into voting Labor. Yes, I wrote about this the other day, but even with an avalanche of complaints Labor continues to do it. So much for respecting the voters.

today's ad, originally uploaded by doitforlove.

Here's Andrew's ad in today's paper. A cracker, as Andrew said! While there's still a lot to do - phone calls to return, emails to answer, a few leaflets to distribute, there's a sense in our house that in some ways there's not much more that can be done. Of course, Andrew will take every opportunity to keep getting his message out there, including by knocking on doors. Many people don't make up their mind about who to vote for until they are literally standing in the polling booth, pen in hand, so our work is not done!