THE HUNTER has seen a spike in federal attention and political visitors over the last few weeks, common symptoms of election fever.
With two battleground seats in the region, Newcastle Herald readers will hear from Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese a lot more as they campaign alongside local candidates for your vote.
To wade through the political spin and react to press conference gaffs, we are bringing readers the observations and opinions of "everyday" voters in the countdown to polling day on Saturday, May 21.
The Herald will be doing this through the time-honoured "pub test".
Today we introduce our Pub Test panel - a small cross-section of the community who will give us their thoughts on the election campaign as it unfolds.
Each week, we'll ask the panel to share their views on the events and issues that emerge through the campaign as ScoMo and Albo make their case to the Australian people.
We caught up with our panel at the Clarendon Hotel, to get to know them and understand the issues they want addressed.
Gordon Grainger - retiree, 83
Self-described "dyed-in-the-wool Liberal" voter, Gordon Grainger, said since his home in Tea Gardens was redistributed from the Paterson to Lyne electorate, his vote has gone to the Nationals. After more than three decades working in plastics sales for a major German company, Gordon has been "happily" retired for 22 years. As a retiree, he wants to see the "general issues of pensioners" addressed in the coming weeks. Gordon also wants to see a focus on health and policy to reduce Australia's reliance on China.
"I don't like the idea of us depending on a lot of their imports," he said. "I would like to see a lot more local manufacture."
When it comes to the nation's potential leaders, Gordon said he's looking for "truthfulness" and a "way forward".
"In general, Labor is over-promising in certain areas and they don't present well as a group. I think the Liberals should win."
Taylah Gray - lawyer and PhD student, 25
A proud Wiradjuri woman, lawyer, PhD student and teacher of Aboriginal tertiary studies, Taylah Gray said her inclination to vote for Labor and the Greens comes from them being "a little less conservative than Liberal".
For Taylah, there are four key issues which will decide where her vote falls on May 21; climate change, housing, dental and medical care, and student debt.
"You put all these things together and it's a recipe for disaster," she said. "We've seen the Lismore floods but, not only that, what often gets left out of the picture are the Torres Strait Islands."
Taylah said she wants to see politicians seek feedback from the community in a genuine way before the election.
"The answers are at a community level, they are at a grassroots level," she said. "Talking to people in the community and not just stopping at the pub once in a blue moon."
Jasmine Stuart - student, 21
Studying a Bachelor of Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of Newcastle while working part-time time at an energy consultants, climate and energy are major issues for Jasmine Stuart. A Greens voter, Jasmine said being a young person means climate change will be "one of the biggest issues" in her lifetime.
"I think it's going to affect every aspect of our lives. In terms of energy policy, disasters such as floods and that flows on to affect economics," she said. "This is really the last election where we have any hope of seriously addressing this issue."
Incorporating climate concerns, Jasmine wants to see our leaders make "brave" policy decisions which look beyond the short term.
"We know that not acting on climate change and not funding things like education and healthcare have much greater costs over the long term."
For the Hunter, Jasmine said, this means taking action on employment and energy policy before coal workers are "left behind".
Bernie Wilson - coal miner, 48
"I think Labor leaders have a bit more of a social conscience that what Liberal leaders are for."
Bernie Wilson is an underground coal miner at Myuna Colliery and an avid Newcastle surfer. He is concerned about the impact a decrease in coal exports would have in the Hunter.
"What's going to happen in the future if we are going to make this change over from thermal coal going into all these renewables?" he asked.
Beyond mining, Bernie wants to see "some long-term planning" around issues such as housing and tertiary education. He said funding these plans could be made easier by taxing multinationals and churches.
Alluding to Scott Morrison's reputation for "marketing", Bernie said he's looking for a change in leadership values.
"We've seen the lack of character from Morrison when the s-t hits the fan with bushfires and the floods. Hopefully Albo is a bit more of a stand up guy and has a bit more decency about him."
Leah Stevens - conveyancer and business owner, 47
Along with many of our readers, the number one issue for Leah Stevens is "climate".
"Positive action on climate, protection of the environmental and electrification of Australia," Leah said.
Having moved from Adelaide to Newcastle in 2002, Leah has a mixed voting history - Liberal, Australian Democrats and more recently Greens. She said one of the key motivators of late which has influenced her vote is that the Greens "don't take donations from fossil fuel companies."
When asked if the character of a party leader weighs on her mind when voting, Leah replied "absolutely".
"I think [Albanese] comes across as genuine and a lot more caring than what Scott Morrison does. I would trust Anthony Albanese."
However, Leah said she would like to see more of a focus on policy in the lead up to the election.
"I would like to hear more from them about what their climate policies are and if we could maybe get away from some of the pettiness that is currently going on."
