Trio of Corangamite hopefuls give tick to allowing vote at 16

THE voting age should be dropped to 16 to improve engagement with federal politics, three candidates vying for the seat of Corangamite say.

Greens candidate Alex Marshall, Animal Justice Party candidate Meg Watkins and Corangamite Labor MP Libby Coker told a Torquay forum on Thursday they supported the voting age being lowered, but Liberal Democrat Paul Barker was against the move.

Ms Watkins, 24, said young people were not being listened to.

“Our adolescents are the ones whose future is being determined by a bunch of middle-aged men in suits,” she said.

“When we try to step up and try to make changes, we’re told that we have no experience in the real world.”

Mr Barker said there was rationale suggesting children of 16 and older should be able to vote, but said, “There’s also some rationale that suggests that some adults probably shouldn’t be able to.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to have children, who don’t have a full grasp of the ramifications of their vote, in a position where they should be able to advocate for voluntary voting.

“If we’re going to leave children to be dictating the direction of the country, I don’t think that is actually fair on the rest of society.”

Ms Marshall, 22, said a lower voting age would give young people an opportunity to “truly think global, act local”.

“There’s a quote that goes, ‘if you’re not mad, you’re not paying attention’, and we are mad and we are paying attention. It’s time we empower 16 and-17year-olds to participate in democracy directly,” she said.

Ms Coker said our strong democracy could potentially be stronger with the votes of younger people.

“If you make voting for 16 compulsory, perhaps we might see better engagement among young people,” the MP said.

“I know people young people care, that sometimes perhaps they feel disempowered.”

Under federal law, it is compulsory for all eligible Australian citizens aged 18 or over to be enrolled and vote in elections, by-elections and referendums. In Corangamite, 2759 voters aged 18 or 19 are enrolled to vote, while in Corio there are 2690.