i love this nation, and truly blessed to call australia home.
on a day like today, where the nation democratically elected the next prime minister… i don’t take this freedom for granted.
in my country of birth, despite appearances, it isn’t a democracy. less than half the seats are contested, so the prime minister is in a sense already decided before the nation goes to vote. and so when the people vote for the opposition, the government penalises them. public transport gets taken away from that suburb, government housing buildings don’t get upgraded… the list goes on. and that’s the public list. there’s a lot more things that happens in the dark.
i clearly remember the night when i decided i want to become a citizen. you might think it was because i love this beautiful nation full of awesome beaches and amazing sunshine :). but being a permanent resident, i could still enjoy all this and live here indefinitely without being a citizen.
no, the primary reason for wanting to be a citizen was so i could vote. you see, that night, i had been invited by my close aussie friend to an election party. i remember feeling so out of place that night as the concept of a democratic leader was so foreign to me. i couldn’t imagine that people would gather together to watch the polling results and celebrate the next leader of this country.
every voice matters. your voice matters. just as every single vote counts especially in a close election like we just had, make every second of your life count!