Until 1990, Richmond and Page were held firmly by the National Party, the junior and more conservative partner in the opposition Liberal-National coalition. In that year, Labor candidates narrowly won the two seats in an upset which reflected the demographic revolution taking place in this zone of sparkling beaches, rolling green hinterland and semi-tropical rainforests.For generations, timber cutters and dairy and cattle farmers had ruled the region, making it an enclave of conservative politics. As he enters the countdown towards the election on Saturday, when he will be fighting to win a sixth term for the Labor Party, the Prime Minister’s minders have embarked on a hit- and-run strategy, criss-crossing the country to shore up the Labor vote in crucial marginal constituencies which could mean the difference between political life and death for Mr Keating and Labor.Byron Bay, on the New South Wales north-east coast, is the centre of Richmond, one such constituency Next door is another, called Page. Mr Keating’s visit was a last- minute affair, with no advance fanfare.

Were they still in residence? “Oh, yes,” said Tom Mooney, publican of the Great Northern Hotel, where the Prime Minister was giving a campaign speech “I was there the other day. But they’re not coming to town for this.”Nor, it seemed, were many other locals. What makes us nervous about the trucking operation is that some people who are inclined to stay may see a truck pulling up in front of their house, and find it an offer they cannot refuse.”. ROBERT MILLIKEN

Byron Bay, New South Wales
To open the critical final week of the Australian election campaign, Paul Keating drove to Byron Bay, whose most famous resident, Paul Hogan, is occasionally glimpsed by the sun-seekers and alternative-lifestyle followers who have made the town their mecca.He and Linda Kozlowski, his co-star in Crocodile Dundee, were married six years ago at the A$4m (pounds 2m) mansion they built in the hills behind Byron Bay after the film’s success.

Many Serbs leaving the suburbs have removed everything from their homes, including kitchen sinks.”Even the windows are gone,” Bensad Heric said, looking at the home he was forced to leave in 1992. “But we’ll put it back into shape.”In Ilijas, UNHCR officials saw some of those in the 20 Serb army trucks, which were sent in to the demilitarised suburbs with the approval of the Nato commander, Admiral Leighton Smith, looting official buildings.”There were some military trucks loading up public property, such as furniture from the municipality building and chairs from the cinema,” said Kris Janowski, a UNHCR spokesman.He criticised Admiral Smith’s decision to allow the Serb army to re-enter the area.”There are some reasonable people there who want to stay. “Whatever is theirs they can take away, but whatever belongs to others must stay,” he said.The new regulations will increase concern among Serbs, many of whom have heard a rumour that they will not be allowed to leave the area after 19 March.However, the mayor has a point. He said yesterday no vehicles would be allowed to remove possessions from Vogosca unless the family had registered. This is a place from the 19th century which, instead of moving forward to the 21st, has returned to the Middle Ages.”Muhamed Kozadra, the new Muslim mayor of Vogosca, who assumed office sooner than was planned – the civilian authorities were not due to move in until 19 March – has sought to stem the outward flow of material goods, if not of people.

The Bosnian Serb leadership claims that 80 to 90 per cent have departed.One Bosnian policeman said Serbs staying in Vogosca were frightened at first: “But then I said ‘Hello’, and suddenly they were asking if I could help them and bring them things.”What struck me was how poor these people are. “They’re OK, everything’s great.”The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) believes about 30,000 Serbs have now left greater Sarajevo, just under half the estimated war-time population of 70,000. “It’s super, we’ve come back to visit relatives who stayed here throughout the war,” said one young man in Vogosca, north of Sarajevo. EMMA DALY

Ilijas
Bosnian Muslims and Croats who were expelled from the suburbs of Sarajevo in 1992 ventured in to see what remained of their houses yesterday while the exodus of Serbs continued with the help of Serbian military vehicles.The United Nations estimates that about half the Serb population has left, but the streets of Vogosca, more or less deserted in the last few days, have slowly returned to life since the arrival on Friday of Bosnian federal police, who are taking control of five suburbs in a phased hand- over.The only pedestrians visible last week were older men and women, some unsure whether to stay under government rule, others too poor to leave without the help promised by the Serb leadership, which never materialised.But yesterday a few young men played football, others fetched water or stopped to chat to policemen.It was one of the rare occasions on which Muslims were easily distinguishable from Serbs, as the Muslims were smiling. In the second city of Bo, youths danced through the streets with the severed head, feet and uniformed body of a supposed Revolutionary United Front rebel after a salvo of rocket-propelled grenades disrupted voting

Photograph:David Guttenfelder/AP. Nevertheless, huge crowds turned out to choose from 13 parties and presidential candidates.

During the day residents of the capital said that explosions from mortars and automatic weapons could be heard coming from the direction of Wilberforce army barracks. Sierra Leone voters queuing in a school compound in Freetown yesterday to cast their ballots in the country’s first democratic elections in more than a decade. In 1994 an anti- tank shell exploded close to his bedroom.Earlier this month his car was attacked by Croats as he announced his plan to reunify the city. Violence erupted again last week on the very day that Muslim and Croat citizens were to be allowed freedom of movement, as a first step to full reunification.Mr Koschnik said yesterday he hoped his successor would have a more peaceful time.. During his time in the city he has endured physical threats and mob violence. Germany’s Klaus Kinkel said he regretted Mr Koschnik was giving up his mandate.