‘Only bad things’ in Lindsay: western Sydney voters remain deeply unimpressed

Grace Collins says she has heard of Anthony Albanese, but she doesn't know much about him.

"And what I hear about him is only bad things," she says. Her partner, Tama Doole, says he wouldn't be able to recognise Albanese if he saw him on the street.

It's a common refrain in the western Sydney seat of Lindsay, based around Penrith, once a solid Labor seat, now something of a bellwether, having been won by the party that formed government in 13 of the past 14 elections.

But there is not much love for the prime minister either. Many remember his absence during the 2019 bushfires and the slow vaccine rollout in 2021.

"I don't really think he's good in his position," Doole says, "I don't really know that much about him, but what I know is also bad."

A general sense of disaffection hangs over the seat, with many voters telling the Guardian they don't feel inspired by either major party.

Collins and Doole say they feel shouted at and not engaged with, and don't feel their experience or concerns have been reflected in the campaign.

"I don't even know who to vote for at this point," Collins says.

"When you see the parties on the street with their signs, they're all just talking rubbish about each other, and it just turns me off the whole process."

Housing affordability is a major issue for Doole and Collins, one they feel remains unaddressed by the campaign.

It's an issue that is physically reshaping the region, as apartment blocks shoot up along the wide highways into Penrith.

And as with much of the country, prices and rent have skyrocketed, pushing lower income families out of the suburb, replaced with renters from further east.

In the past year alone, house prices in Penrith have increased by an eye-watering 20.7%, compared with the national average of 4.3%.

Florence Nglen, a real estate agent in St Marys, says the changing face of the region has left many residents behind.

"It's really tough. Many owners are wanting to move back into their property, with many tenants being rushed out without a good alternative.

"There are a lot of families struggling financially, and this is so hard on them. It's hard seeing my community struggle," she says.

"People feel depressed, they feel sad and lost. They don't feel supported by anyone."

Asked what she thinks of Morrison and the election, Nglen shrugs, saying she also didn't feel represented in the national conversation.

"I really don't know anything about him. It's kind of frustrating, like we don't even know who our local member is or what they stand for."

Liberal incumbent Melissa McIntosh, who holds the seat with a 5% margin, declined to be interviewed, instead providing a statement saying she had "delivered on her plan for Lindsay".

"Every day since first being elected in 2019, I have been speaking with my community about what matters to them," it said.

McIntosh reels off a list of the government's funding announcements, but it is hard to tell how much difference they are making in some of Sydney's most disadvantaged areas.

She will be hoping to retain a seat that has changed hands at every election since 2010, with the previous two incumbents, Liberal Fiona Scott and Labor's Emma Husar, lasting only one term.

The seat has a history of controversy, especially in 2007 when a leaflet from a fake Islamic organisation urging support for Labor was distributed. David Bradbury regained the seat for Labor at that election after it had been held for 11 years by Jackie Kelly. Her shock victory at the 1996 election was emblematic of the shifting mood in outer suburbs electorates previously regarded as rock-solid for Labor.

Labor's Trevor Ross will be hoping the seat flips again at this election, and is betting his 40 years as a professional firefighter endears him to locals, saying on his website that "unlike Scott Morrison, Trevor Ross does hold a hose".

For Joy Impiombato, the general manager at Nepean Community and Neighbourhood Services, inequity is the overarching challenge facing the electorate.

"People are largely ignorant about how inequitable society is becoming and how that pace of change is hard to correct," she says.

"If a low-income family hasn't got into the housing market, if they don't get a leg up from their parents or don't already own property, or if they are a young person who grew up as a renter, they've got no hope."

Impiombato says most voters she comes across are disengaged, and she can't blame them.

"They don't really see the impacts either side of politics is having, whether negative or positive. So there's no reason for them to become engaged.

"I can understand that, people don't see a lot of change."

Barber Nareg Vandekerjiam says he has been attempting to help out by dropping the price of haircuts, or throwing in free hair gel for a family.

"These days, it's very hard for everyone. And I try and help out how I can, if it's a big family I'll give them a cheaper price."

"People around here are not happy, they are not happy in their life," he adds.

Vandekerjiam thinks Morrison will lose the election, but says more customers know him than Albanese.

"They keep saying he's made many mistakes, that he's not taking care of things, that prices are going up. The way I see it, I don't think Scott Morrison is going to win."

The shifting face of the suburb is perhaps best reflected by the newly opened American haburger chain Five Guys.

The chain's only outlet in the country sits across the road from BlueBet Stadium, home of the reigning Nation Rugby League champions, the Penrith Panthers.

Five Guys is marketed as a premium burger experience, attracting foodies from all over the city. That its owners chose Penrith for its first Australian location reflects the shifting face of the region.

As he snacks on his custom cheeseburger, Michael Sterling says his biggest concern is that his dream of owning a home is fading.

"With everything going on now, especially with the interest rate increase, I'm petrified, I don't know when it's the right time to get in. I don't know how long it will be before I will be able to buy anything, and it's concerning.

"It just leaves me in a constant state of uncertainty, I just want to know where my life is headed in the next 10 years. And with Morrison and Albanese, I'm not sure where they're going to take things."

Sterling is deeply unimpressed by either candidate, saying Morrison doesn't represent what a "true Australian is", while having zero impressions of Albanese.

"I don't really like anyone," he says.

A sense of the gleaming new replacing the old and dirty underscores much of the development across the electorate, an attempt to scrub the city clean of its stereotypes.

The recently completed Yandhai Nepean crossing stands in contrast to the older road bridge that runs parallel. While the crossing is open and modern, the road is bumpy and surrounded by steel, blocking views of the river.

Zoe Roberston, Maddi Kenny and Allison Jones, rollerblading along the crossing, say the whole region has been ignored.

"We get a few things here and there, but nothing substantial. But they gave us a Five Guys, and expect us to be satisfied," Kenny scoffs.

"They prioritise cleaning the graffiti off skate parks, than they do actually making them more skateable," Jones says.

They say the changes are gentrifying Penrith, stripping away its character.

"It's taking away a lot of culture," Kenny says, "People might not see it as culture, but it's culture. It makes me want to give up on politics.

"Unless they give us something that actually makes me want to vote, I'm just going to continue ignoring it the way it ignores me."

Asked what they thought about Morrison, they all rolled their eyes.

"He's on his way out," Robertson says to nods from the rest.