Could you start by telling me a little bit about yourself, please?
I'm Australian. I first moved from Australia to the UK in 2015, and then when Brexit happened I could no longer work with European clients while living in the UK. So they offered me to move to Frankfurt, Paris or Stockholm, and I chose Stockholm.
I officially moved in 2018, but I was doing that thing where you come for a week to look for a place to live and then go back to the UK, and what I didn't realise was that I ended up starting officially nine days too late – and those nine days followed me for the next six years. When I got my first permit extension they said they were going to deport me, and it took four months of arguing and showing my pay slips and plane tickets.
Plus I travel a lot and didn't realise that leaving Sweden had an impact on my actual time of residence, so I couldn't apply for citizenship until six and a half years after living here, and then it took 10 months to get the application processed. I got citizenship in July 2025.
What does it feel like to be voting in Sweden for the first time?
It's my second time, I voted in the regional and local elections before. That's actually one of my messages, that even if you're not a citizen, you should still be engaged in politics because the municipality and region can affect how we live in Sweden, whether it's the energy policy or public transport or schools and things like that.
So how does it feel to be voting for the Swedish parliament for the first time?
Excited and scared that I'm going to make the wrong decision.
Australians have compulsory voting so we're always engaged. In Australia when you vote on voting day, they have people selling you democracy sausage – basically a slice of white bread with a sausage in the middle, and sometimes onions. We won't have that in Sweden.
I take this very seriously because it's only one vote, but I want to make sure I contributed. I believe in voting because I always say to people who don't vote that you've lost your chance to whinge for the next four years because you didn't participate.
What issues matter the most to you?
Immigration is probably number one. How foreigners are being treated, because I'm seeing the difference when I first arrived versus now, how I'm perceived. Especially after Covid. One day I was on the commuter train and a couple of kids came up and said thanks for the Chinese virus to me. I didn't even know how to react to that.
I think the problem is that once you open up Pandora's box, you can't put it back in. People are openly being racist, but I'm seeing that everywhere: in Australia, in the US, in the UK. Sweden is no different.
The environment also matters to me. We seem to have gone backwards in a big way in the last four years. We've taken off the petrol excise, we encourage people to fly more, and suddenly start talking about nuclear power.
I'm a little bit anti-nuclear. Yes, it's emission-free, but the amount of money you need to invest in putting one up, and the potential danger and waste involved scares me.
Then the other side is probably the economy and how we're spending money on wars and defence.
Do you mind if I ask which party you're voting for?
I'm still not 100 percent sure. I actually did quite a few of those vote compasses, and I think I'm very close to the Centre Party actually. They call themselves centre-left, but I think they're more centre-right. But the problem I've had in the last few weeks is listening to the lady who is their leader. I'm not quite 100 percent sure where she stands, because she also talks about wanting to work with the Christian Democrats and I can't listen to Ebba Busch.
Then I question that, because the environment is very strong for me, so therefore maybe the Green Party? I like Annika Hirvonen, who was very active in helping the immigrants.
I don't want to vote for the Social Democrats because they were also responsible for all the other immigration mistakes before this current government. But also, if I really want them to form a government, maybe I need to strengthen them a little bit. So I'm confused.
I think the Left Party is too far left. It looks like a bunch of unemployed people who never worked in their life, and they also have a tendency to bring down the government – that's what happened four years ago with the rent control.
How easy have you found it to inform yourself about Swedish politics and what the various parties stand for?
I guess I'm relatively engaged in politics and reading about it. The Local's coverage has definitely helped. I also attended a session organised by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation about what the different parties have promised and done in these four years. But you have to go out and want to do it yourself, otherwise it can wash over you.
What are your thoughts on the Swedish election campaign in general?
I think it's been terrible, actually, because I went to the central station [in Stockholm] when the Sweden Democrats had all their posters up. I had to take the train to Gothenburg, and I was really shocked because, number one, being an immigrant, and their logos look like they're kindergarten with butterflies and flowers – and there's nothing innocent about them.
A lot of the campaigning is really just in Swedish. I understand a lot of Swedish but I don't speak a lot. But if you just arrived and are not able to speak Swedish, it would be very difficult to find out anything about the politics.
How is Swedish politics different from countries you've previously lived in?
I think it's pretty much the same. The trends are worldwide because we have our far right in Australia as well, and they talk about the same thing. I've been talking about going back to Australia to retire, but it makes me scared with the trends going on down there as well.
What do you want native Swedish voters to know about what immigrant life is like in Sweden?
It's so difficult to get a conversation about that. Actually, I must say my colleagues have been very understanding. My boss is fantastic. I'm the only one on a team of 22 who is not Swedish or Nordic. So I'm always different, and they've always been very good to me.
Sometimes when I bring up the trouble that I went through, they're all very shocked. I've been working here the entire time, paying a lot of tax, high income, high skills, why would I be in trouble? They're always surprised. But I think what they don't do is actually read up more about all the other ones – I'm not the only one who got into trouble.
I find people generally don't want to talk about politics. It's a topic they avoid. I think The Local is probably the only newspaper that actually shows the difficulties that we go through; in a normal newspaper you wouldn't see anything. We don't feature. I think this is because we're put into "oh you're an immigrant, so either 'good immigrant' or 'bad immigrant'".
What do you want to say to foreigners voting in Sweden for the first time?
I think they should fill out some of the vote compasses, just to make sure they are clear on the issues, and also read up on what the parties stand for. It is a big responsibility because it could affect your life in the next four years, and a lot of things that they change could have an even longer impact than what you think. Talk to friends and try to engage those dinner table conversations. Even if you're not a citizen, go vote for the region and municipality.