It’s election time in New South Wales and this is the first time I’ve voted outside Australia.

As a result, it’s also the first time I haven’t been accosted with how to vote cards at the polling booth, gone to the local school to vote and have a sausage sizzle / bbq afterwards. I was even able to vote during the week. Something just doesn’t feel quite right about it all.

On the plus side, this approach has been more environmentally friendly except for the legislative council tablecloth to number – I thought that candidate numbers were to be reduced?!

Still, I am impressed there appears to be quite a large number of people who care enough about the state to run for the elections. What I’m not so impressed about is the lack of policies coming out of the parties and that I can’t seem to access them from a single spot on the internet. (Yes, I like to know what I’m voting for and why one party deserves my vote over another – I’m a bit of a nerd like that, actually that is not the only thing that demonstrates my nerdiness but it is certainly one of them!)

Some parties make it a bit easier by having their name and their platform the same. A little on the boring side and suggests a lack of imagination and any other policies but it is easy for a voter to know what they are likely to be getting.

Those that appear to subscribe to this method of naming include, The Shooters Party, The Fishing Party, Australians Against Further Immigration, Restore the Workers’ Rights Party, Horse Riders Party / Outdoor Recreation Party and the Human Rights Party.

It’s a fair bet what any of these parties are likely to be advocating. Admittedly, the ‘Get More Water / Save More Water Party’ or the ‘Fix the Cross City Tunnel Fiasco Party’ also sound boring but they are probably a bit more needed than some of the others.

The more vague a name of the party, the more likely I am to do some research to see what they actually do. This has led me to the Save Our Suburbs Party – how do you save a suburb? I know now because I’ve had to check their website. The Liberals, Nationals, Labor and Greens, I haven’t had to worry about because they have been all over the media (yes, even in HK I know what they have been up to!).

I voted at the Australian Embassy earlier this week where they had made a large room into a polling station. I had to turn off my mobile phone, walk through a security gate, give my passport details and collect the forms. There was little sense of completion after I had finished voting and popped my tablecloth and coaster (folded into the size of a toothpick so it could fit into the envelope) in the ballot box.

Nothing says ‘election’ like ‘sausage sizzle’ and it is this part I have missed the most. I’m going to organise one for the federal election with some of our Australian neighbours.

Who else would vote for the ‘Sausage Sizzle for Overseas / Postal Voters Party’?

* Thanks to Split Enz for the title of this post