Jacques Chester for Solomon

Thank goodness the election is over.

With 73.32% of the Solomon votes counted I earned 249 primary votes overall. Most of what’s left to count is postal votes, a lot of that from soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thus the final outcome in Solomon remains hanging in the balance.

I did not beat Maurice Foley, which was a personal goal (nothing personal Maurice, you understand how it is). Well done Maurice. I did beat Trudy Campbell. The three of us micros were utterly obliterated by Deborah Hudson of the Greens, who earned a 2.24% swing towards.

I spent my day with my volunteers at Nightcliff Highschool, which is the biggest polling station in Solomon by votes cast. I earned 29 votes there, though my scrutineers say that I was getting a lot of [2]s on Damian Hale’s primaries. For all the flack we in the LDP got from the Liberals, it seems that there is an untapped constituency for moderate libertarian policy amongst the ALP crowd. At Nightcliff I survived the first two rounds of elimination; my scrutineers bugged out before giving me the final flows. As it happens, single votes made the difference in me getting as far as I did.

Interestingly my best performance by percentage was in Bakewell; my worst nearby in Moulden.

In the final analysis, I am utterly exhausted. I would like to thank everyone who volunteered to help throughout the campaign. Your enthusiasm kept me going during my occasional episodes of wondering what I was doing. Your tirelessness on the big day was heart warming. Thanks all of you. You’re why I love Darwin.

To those of you who voted for me, thankyou very much. You have shown that hundreds of Darwinites and Palmerstonians care about policies that work for the country. You’ve also expressed your trust that I was the best person to represent you in Parliament. That’s an honour. Thankyou.

If you vote for me and you want to help, you should consider joining the party. Visit the website and download an application form. If and when I contest Solomon again I will need more volunteers to staff more booths, to help raise more money, to spread the word to more people. By joining the Liberty & Democracy Party you can affirm your commitment to securing liberty through democracy. Nobody will do it for you; you must be involved.

So that’s it. I will be returning to my studies and I am sure my family are looking forward to normality returning to our domestic affairs. It has been a pretty wild and woolly six weeks, but good. I did what I felt I must do. I think I did the right thing.

Until next time,

Jacques Chester.