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‘ Make it 16 ’
New push to allow Australian high schoolers to vote .
By NCA NewsWire
Young people have kicked off a national campaign at Parliament House to lower the federal voting age from 18 to 16 .
Supported by independent MPs Monique Ryan and Andrew Wilkie and Greens youth spokesman Stephen Bates , the “ Make it 16 ” campaign argues that if 16 year olds can drive , pay rent and work full time , they should be allowed to vote for their government representatives .
They say the government has the ability to pass legislation to amend the Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1918 to lower the age , and follow in the footsteps of Austria , Argentina and Brazil , who have already made such a change .
New Zealand , Canada and Germany are also on track to also lower their voting age .
Mr Bates introduced a private members Bill to lower the voting age earlier this year but failed .
Recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates there are more than 600,000 16 and 17 year olds in the country .
Campaign co-founder and year 11 student Archie Coppola said young people wanted a say in government decisions which “ affect our lives and futures ”.
“ Sixteen and 17 year olds can already drive , consent to medical procedures , join the armed forces , vote in political party preselection ’ s , leave school or home , pay rent and work full time ,” he said . “ We should also have the right to vote .
“ We want politicians to stop ignoring us simply because we are excluded from voting in federal elections .
“ Lowering the voting age and including more engaged young voices in elections will only strengthen our democracy and help our elected representatives to make better decisions .”
Dr Ryan , at a joint press conference with the campaigners at Parliament House this week , threw her support behind the bid .
“ It doesn ’ t seem right that we ’ re not giving young people a chance to participate in democracy ,” she said .
“ The reality is that they ’ re going to be affected by decisions that we make in this place – whether it ’ s about the climate and environment , housing or the economy .
“ All of those things matter more to them than to some of the people in this place . It ’ s only fair that we give them a chance to participate in our democracy
“ We have increasing evidence that young people have the same cognitive abilities – in some instances better cognitive abilities than older people who have the right to vote . It ’ s only fair that we give them a chance to have their say in their future … It ’ s only fair and only reasonable to make the voting age 16 .”
Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister , Patrick Gorman , on Tuesday said young people “ don ’ t have to have a vote to have a say ”.
“ There ’ s a whole bunch of other ways to engage in Australia ’ s democracy ,” he told ABC Perth .
He said while it was not a “ crazy idea ”, changing the voting age was not a priority “ we need right now ”.
“ Although , I one hundred per cent love the fact that we live in a democracy where , whether or not you ’ re old enough to vote , you can get on the airwaves , you can come to Parliament House , you can get your issue on the agenda ,” he said .
“ And I think that kind of shows why this probably isn ’ t a necessary change at this time , because voting is not the only way that you can engage in our democracy .”
Pushed further , Mr Gorman said there was a risk such a change would lead to a weaker voting system .
“ If we take away compulsory voting , or have some sort of , you know , ‘ your first vote ’ s free ’ idea , which is what the Make it 16 proposal is , that does weaken compulsory voting and we can ’ t go down that path ,” he said .
“ We ’ ve got one of the best electoral systems in the world ; it would be a real shame to start weakening it , or weaken compulsory voting .” ■
6 | educationreview . com . au