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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-07-21 Daily Xml
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ELECTORAL (VOTING AGE) AMENDMENT BILL

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. T.A. JENNINGS (17:40): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Electoral Act 1985; and to make related amendments to the City of Adelaide Act 1998, the Juries Act 1927 and the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. T.A. JENNINGS (17:41): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I introduce this bill today because, within our society, there currently exists an ageist discriminatory policy to deny the right to vote to young people of 16 and 17 years of age, yet 16 year olds and 17 year olds are allowed to work (or, in fact, often have to work), pay tax, leave home, drive cars, get married, become parents, make career decisions related to training and education, and they can, of course, join the armed forces. Indeed, in many cases we do expect them to shoulder all these responsibilities.

Despite this, they are not entitled to have a say or a voice on the policies which dictate how they carry out their very adult affairs. In 1973, voting was lowered to include 18 year olds, as it was recognised in changing circumstances at that time that 18 year olds were indeed mature and responsible enough to make decisions regarding their wishes for the future of our country and their country.

Our current social situation is considerably different from 1973. Our young people are more educated than ever before. They are already often politically active in groups, such as the United Nations Youth Association, the Oaktree Foundation, Make Poverty History, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and Students of Sustainability, which last week at Flinders University saw the largest student-run conference in Australia.

I also note that 15 year olds are able to join the Labor Party, the Liberal Party and some other political parties and often do. Citizenship education, youth engagement campaigns and high-speed interactive media have made Australian young people more politically savvy and aware than previous generations. Australia currently has an ageing population, and as the baby boomers continue to age and continue to vote the political agenda will be increasingly dominated by issues that are primarily focused for older and ageing people, and young people may further be marginalised and disconnected from our political system.

A Canberra member of the Legislative Assembly, Mary Porter, examined this issue with her colleagues in parliament and came to the conclusion that it would be a very positive step towards engaging young people in politics where they were clearly capable to do so. The most frequent criticism of offering young people a vote is, of course, that they are not well enough equipped with the knowledge of the political and governmental process to understand what is happening. Mary Porter responds (and I would agree):

I would also say that there would be many young people who would possibly not be ready to vote, but we could say that about any age group.

Indeed, it was once argued that women, of course, were too naive or too innocent to participate in politics and that political debate and participation would be too much for them. It was argued that their husbands or fathers would know what was in their best interests. Many of these arguments that were put way back then (which, of course, we discount now) are similar to those that are mounted against 16 and 17 year olds. Just as they are patronising, they are also archaic. Thankfully South Australia was among the leading states in the world in granting suffrage to women and, in this case, if we were to extend suffrage to 16 and 17 year olds, we would again be leading the world but, of course, we continue to follow. Austria allows 16 year olds to vote at all elections while Germany and Switzerland allow 16 year olds to vote at a number of elections at different levels in different areas. Cuba, Nicaragua and Brazil or allow voting for 16 year olds, although in Brazil it is only compulsory at 18 years of age.

Another argument often levelled against young people is that they are too impressionable to be able to make a considered choice when faced with aggressive campaigning strategies of political parties. The ABC published an article with some recent research that was done in South Australia that suggested that all voters were highly impressionable and voted more on whether a candidate looked competent rather than the party's policy—again, no difference between 16 and 17 year olds and those over 18.

To stop 16 and 17 year olds voting sends the message that they are not real citizens: their views are not valid, they are neither intelligent nor mature. These messages can often become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The political acumen of these young people can be seen when one watches a program such as Q&A on the ABC which frequently takes questions from young people under 18 and even featured an entire episode where former prime minister Kevin Rudd faced off against a parliament full of young people. Mr Rudd finished a little worse for wear from that experience. I would like to see what would happen in the coming election should 16 and 17 year olds be able to have a voice.

From the ABS data from 2009 we know that there are 446,010 young Australians aged 16 to 17 who are currently denied this right to vote. In South Australia that is 21,832 individuals currently disenfranchised. Young people have considerable expectations made of them, and we expect them to take on responsibilities, yet we do not grant them the rights associated with these responsibilities. This bill goes some way to granting those rights for those who are willing. This bill would grant the right to vote for those 16 and 17 year olds who choose to. It would not make it compulsory for them but it would in fact give them the option to vote should they desire.

I will finish with the words of Reverend Jonathon Mayhew who in 1750 in the American War of Independence campaigned for no taxation without representation. I think the same today can be applied in regard to young people. We must grant them the representation they deserve in allowing them to vote and allowing them to have a say in the future of this country in which they will live for much longer than us lawmakers. I commend this bill to the council.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. Carmel Zollo.

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