When the people of Scotland went to the polls on Thursday night Jim Thomson was 15,000 kilometres away, but his mind wandered back to his homeland.
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Mr Thomson has kept himself abreast of what was happening as Scotland prepared for one of the biggest decisions in its history.
The referendum question was straight forward.
Should Scotland be an independent country?
But the ramifications of the decision are complex and many important questions are yet to be answered.
How will the oil wealth of the United Kingdom be divided?
What will happen to Scotland’s flag and currency?
Will jobs be lost because of an exodus of businesses to south of the border?
Mr Thomson, who left Edinburgh with his wife, Lily, and two children in 1961, said he had spoken to his cousins on Skype about the issue, but was unsure which way the vote would go.
“In my opinion, 80 per cent of the folk back home would like to see home rule for Scotland,” he said.
“But that 80 per cent are not sure what that means and what will happen.
“They tell me the yes vote has got stronger, but I’d be surprised if [the outcome] is yes.”
Graham Law, the man who led Maitland back to the top flight of Northern NSW football for the first time in 12 years last month, also hails from Auld Reekie, the affectionate term for Scotland’s capital city Edinburgh.
Mr Law moved to Australia in 2010 and said he had held back his opinion because Scots who have left the country are not entitled to vote.
“I’ve spoken to mates on Facebook and followed it a lot; it’s going to be close,” he said.
“Scots are a lot like Aussies, they look after each other and they’re passionate in their beliefs.
“It’s interesting, a lot of people have started asking me about it, it’s captured that global audience.”
It has also captured the Australian audience.
According to the 2011 census, 130,204 Australian residents were born in Scotland while 1,792,600 claimed Scottish ancestry.
The polls closed on Friday morning Australian time at 7am and a result is not expected to be known until sometime in the afternoon.
But whatever way the vote goes there is one thing for certain – the flower of Scotland will continue to bloom.
The question: Should Scotland be an independent country?
The vote for Scotland’s independence started on Thursday night Australian time and the polls closed Friday at 7am.
When the Scottish National Party won a landslide victory in May 2011, the political pressure for a vote became irresistible.
British prime minister, David Cameron, agreed in 2012 to hold a straight “yes” or “no” referendum, without a third option of giving the Scots more autonomy, which is now on the table.
Until recently, the anti-independence campaign maintained a comfortable lead in opinion polls.
But as the referendum approached, the two sides were neck and neck.