“It was a nice day, so I offered to take the grandkids for a walk, stopping in at the polling booth on the way home”, explained the 71 year old. “Then someone comes up to me, in front of the grandkids, and asks me who I voted for. My grandkids are all about the planet and the future and things like that. They don’t even know what franking credits are. It was easier to just fib a bit."
From as early as mid-afternoon on Saturday, reports started to emerge that exit polls from around the country were foreshadowing a narrow Labour victory.
So when the Coalition romped home, attention quickly turned to how the exit polls could have been so incorrect. Coastal Tribune may have stumbled across the answer.
We recently caught up with Derek Pearl (71). Derek is one of the many, many Boomers who voted for the Coalition. However, it quickly became apparent during our conversation that he is a member of a small army of Boomers who may have misled pollsters.
Derek explains that he started with the best of intentions.
“It was a lovely day, and I was enjoying a barbie with my son and his young family. I offered to take the grandkids for a walk, stopping in to vote on the way home. I voted for the Coalition, of course, because I don’t want labour touching any of my investment or holiday houses. And don't get me started on franking credits!”
He says that things became awkward when he was approached by an exit pollster.
“I know that my grandkids are all about the Planet, the future, equality, issues that affect young people and all that garbage. But that’s not where my concerns lie. If the scientists are right and climate change exists, and I saw a YouTube video that it’s all a hoax anyway, well that’s not likely to affect me. I’ll be long gone by then. So it was a bit awkward with the grandkids right there. Our interests aren't exactly aligned if you know what I mean. It was just easier to fib.”
So there you have it. We asked if Derek thought this issue was widespread enough to explain the entire discrepancy.
"Yep. It was the grandkids’ fault”.