Dave Munroe, Wollongong
On September 18, a meet-the-candidates public forum on lowering the voting age to 16 was organised by Resistance and the Socialist Alliance.
Candidates for the seat of Cunningham addressed the meeting, including Chris Williams from the Socialist Alliance, Sharon Bird from the ALP and current Greens MP Michael Organ. Liberal candidate John Larter was unable to attend due to his "massive workload". Twenty-five high school students from four different schools participated.
Opening the meeting, Resistance and Socialist Alliance member Amanda Zivcic said that in Wollongong, "we have the highest rate of youth unemployment in the country, at 36.6%. At the same time, young people are bearing the brunt of cutbacks to funding for education... Those young people who do have jobs are expected to pay taxes, so are thereby contributing to government revenue. If we're old enough to work by age 15, pay tax, and live under brutal government policies, just as adults do, why can't we vote?"
She claimed that young people are excluded from parliamentary politics "because we represent a more progressive agenda, conflicting with that of the two major parties. You only have to look to the energetic and inspiring student strikes against the war in Iraq last year for an example of this."
Williams told the forum: "The Socialist Alliance supports lowering the voting age to 16, but we don't believe that elections once every four years are enough to bring about true democratic change for young people. Only through the active involvement of young people in the political process can issues such as youth unemployment and funding for education really be addressed."
Organ took a similar line, speaking to the Greens policy of voluntary voting from the age of 16. "I hate to say it, but really, when you look at who's in government, it's old men in suits. We need more young people as representatives before we can really get at the issues that young people face."
Bird's stance on lowering the voting age was less decisive. She put the "indifference of today's youth" down to the fact that we live in materialistic society — a conclusion which she came to from her own "vast experience in advocating for troubled youths". Bird did, however, agree with the idea that young people need a voice. She proposed a strategy of lobbying within the Labor Party for greater formal equality.
Questions were then directed to the candidates from the eager audience on the casualisation of the work force, refugees, the war on Iraq, health and education funding and the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement. The issue of mandatory detention of asylum seekers received mixed proposals from the candidates. Bird raised Labor's amendment of "a six month limit on detention", while Williams and Organ advocated the complete abolition of mandatory detention, which was well received by the audience.
From Green Left Weekly, September 29, 2004.
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