Miss Queensland & Her Electoral Mandate - Creepy, Sexist Political Cartoon, 1929.

Source:

The Telegraph, Evening Edition. May 14th, 1949.

Qld State Election. Who'll Top the Polls Tonight? Mr Fourex Does It! Beer Ad, 1938.

Source: The Brisbane Telegraph, Saturday Evening Edition. April 2nd 1938. Page 3.

"Maddening Things at the Booths" - Cartoon from The Brisbane Telegraph, 1938.

Seem familiar? Long queues. wrong queues and not existing. If things get on your nerves at the booths today take a deep breath, it's just part of the 70 year tradition of polling day. Happy voting!

Source:

The Brisbane Telegraph, Saturday Evening Edition. April 2nd 1938. Page 1.

Qld State Election 2012. Calm Before the Storm. How My Election Scoop was Thwarted!

Placemats set for the radio broadcasters, tallyroom Qld State Election 2012.

What's a blogger to do? I want a 'scoop' photo of the tally board before election night, my money shot is the results for the seat of Ashgrove, with Jones and Newman on zero. I make a few phone calls to no avail and  am directed to a media enquiries email address,  so I rattle of my plight thinking that's the end of that. But no, within minutes and just long enough to be walking the dogs, I get a phone call from the Queensland Electoral Commission. Seems it's my lucky day, I'm told I have a 90 minute window of opportunity to get myself to Hall 2 at the convention centre, and a photo won't be a problem, they're about to fire up the board for a test.

The board these days is actually a large screen with four individual panels that display results from individual seats, gone are they days of the manual hoisting of results and flipping of boards by a busy team up in the scaffold behind the board. The first 3 panels left to right will show results from seats as they are updated from the electorate counts, the fourth panel is reserved for seats of interests and I'm sure the seats of Ashgrove, South Brisbane and Mt. Cootha will feature prominently on that fourth panel tomorrow evening.

The Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre isn't an official venue for the tally room, being available at short notice is the major determining factor in the choice of venue from election to election. In past years the tally board has made appearances at The Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, The Sleeman Sports Centre, the Executive Building on George street and in 1938 it was hung outdoors from buildings in Queen Street facing the G.P.O.

Tally board goes outdoor., and drew quite a crowd, hats and all, in the middle of the night. Queen Street, 1938.

View from the bleachers. The tallyroom opens to the public from 5pm Saturday.

As for my money shot, it was never to be. The data used for this afternoons rehearsal was from the 2009election and we won't see this years candidate names until they debut with their first results tomorrow night.Why so? As it was explained to me by my contact from the QEC, they didn't want to add any fuel to the punditry fire with fake election result screen shots running hot on Twitter election eve. With random bloggers in the house, who'd ever take that chance. Scoop nil, press pass, one of.

Caloundra and Burnett results from 2009.

Images from the John Oxley Library, SLQ.

Original Images by The McWhirters Project.

Queensland's Labor Government! A Tired Old Dog?

Every man and his dog. Labor supporter at Brisbane City Hall polling booths, 1938.

The polls, punditry and punters are coining 'trouncing, thumping, bloodbath', pick your favourite adjective but the consensus is that it's all over for the current Qld Labor Government, which is looking like a tired old dog. But with a week to go until Queenslanders don their best hats and cast their votes the only uncertainty is whether or not Campbell Newman "Can Do" in the seat of Ashgrove. Kate Jones has gained support in recent polls to make it neck and neck and a Greens preference deal was clinched this week. Also, the fact that Kate Jones' name appears on the top of the ballot paper in the seat of Ashgrove may be just enough to throw a hand grenade into the middle of what could be a stunning victory for the Qld conservatives. Bob Katter's Australia Party, in conjunction with a successful yet overlooked grass roots campaign by the Greens in relation to coal seam gas developments, could hand power to the conservatives by splitting that voting group enough for Katter to gain some political influence. No matter what the outcome next Saturday, I can't help but think history may repeat itself. How? A one term conservative government (eg. Rob Borbidge, Feb 1996 to June 1998)  as the conservatives once again quickly self destruct as they divvy up the spoils of political power. But that's another dog and another story.

Don your best hat! Brisbane out to vote, Qld State Election, 1938.

 Full page newspaper advertisements published on the eve of the Qld state election in 1938.

Souces: John Oxley Library, SLQ.
The Telegraph Brisbane, Friday Evening, April 1st, 1938.

Don't Be Fooled! - Candidates Make Final Appeals. Cartoon, 1938.

The Labour Party launches it's official campaign Sunday and Campbell Newman promises to divest himself of business interests if elected to the seat of Ashgrove. What to think? This cartoon from The Brisbane Telegraph does the job nicely.

Source:

The Brisbane Telegraph. Friday April 1st, 1938. Page 2.

From the SLQ.

Women to Vote for First Time in Queensland State Election, 1907 - A Photo History!

Women were not always part of the democratic process in Australia and were not able to vote in Federal elections until 1905 and the first Queensland state election in May 1907. Many of Queensland's suffragettes were active members of the Labour Party and Mrs Lillian Locke-Burns was described as "The Brilliant Organizer and Propagandist" in a caption of a photo tribute to "Leading Labour Women" that was published in an edition of The Worker, in June 1907.

A letter publised in the The Worker a week prior to the election of the 25th of May 1907 leaves no doubt that Lilian's reputation seemed well-earned, with a powerful and passionate plea for women to find time to vote.

A Woman's Appeal to Women.

Awake ! Thou that Sleepest !

This should be the clarion call to the Labour women of Queensland in the coming elections. It was the boast of the Tories in the last Federal elections that it was the women who put them at the head of the poll. Unconsciously, to a great extent, the women (who should be in the very forefront as fighters in the great cause of Humanity), helped thesemen in their efforts to put back the hands of the clock of progress. Gulled by stories of the Labour party's intentions to ultimately undermine the purity of home life,etc., they were led into the trap and voted against their own, against their husbands, and against their children's most vital interests.

In some of the States many of them were utterly blind as to the far-reaching importance of their part in the political fight, and were utterly absorbed in the carrying out of trivial domestic arrangements on election day. 

Some of them stoutly refused to make any effort to get to the poll, even when importuned by earnest Labour canvassers. They had no time to help save sweated workers : no time to save white hairs from a pauper's grave ; no time to save one child from starvation ; no time to help the great, seething mass of humanity in their!struggle to get standing room on God's earth. No time—because they were too busy washing blankets!

 Let every earnest woman rise tothe occasion, and wipe off the stigma of the last election. Humanity calls to Woman the Humanitarian. It calls from every sweater's hell; it calls from every deadly slum; it calls from every foodless house; from tear-stained eyes of worn-out mothers it makes its mute appeal. Sooner or later it must touch the heart of Queensland's women.

LILIAN LOCKE-BURNS.Charters Towers.

The women of Queensland did take an opportunity to vote in 1907 and studio photographer Poul Poulson was on the streets of Brisbane to record the event. The images of this historic day clearly show women taking their place inside city polling enclosures. International Women's Day was celebrated this week and the 2012 state election marks the 105th anniversary of women taking their rightful place in Queensland's democratic process.

Women take their place inside the polling enclosure for the first time. Brisbane North polling place, 1907.

Hats for all! Queen Street, Brisbane.Election day, 1907.

Women voters consulting notes outside the polling place, 1907.

Sources:

Photo Images: John Oxley Library, State Library of Qld.

Press Clipping From Trove Australia:1907 'A Woman's Appeal to Women.', Worker (Brisbane, Qld. : 1890 - 1955),

18 May, p. 10.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70864100

Qld State Election - "One Toot & You're Oot! - Cartoon, 1947.

This cartoon references a State law gazetted in 1918 that curbs the excessive use of loudspeakers or maybe politicians singing their praises too loudly? I'm not sure whether the law was directed specifically at election candidates or noisy people in general. Perhaps the law needs an amendment to include Twitter, You Tube, talk-back radio and 5-second sound-bites on the evening news.

Citation:

1947 '"ONE. TOOT AND YOU'RE OOT!".', Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), 21 April, p. 1

 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42516176