Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Ooh-hoo! Did you like that? However, it is no small task to add voters to the electoral roll, for it involves cross-checking many layers of data across multiple agencies. Enrolment currently is not done in real time because of the associated administrative burden. The administrative costs and the inconvenience to other voters already waiting in very, very long lines to fulfil their democratic duty would be simply too great. Enrolling even a small number of voters on election day, the best-case scenario for the AEC under Senator Steele-John's proposition, would place a completely unnecessary administrative and fiscal burden on the Australian Electoral Commission and other government agencies.

In the couple of minutes I have left, I would like to return to one of the most precious things in my life, my 16-year-old son, Harry, the master of the monosyllable. Despite a very worthwhile discussion, Senator Steele-John, for which I am very grateful and thank you sincerely, I do think that the chamber will eventually agree that my Harry, darling Harry, should not be allowed to vote. But I don't think Harry and his peers should be concerned with that outcome, because his voice and the voices of his generation, their needs and their futures are foremost in the minds of everybody here. I believe that what young Australians need most is not the eligibility to vote from a younger age but a robust economy; a sense that their efforts will be rewarded; and a prosperous, hopeful, peaceful and safe country. I think these are the priorities for our 16- and 17-year-olds—not whether they can vote but what we can do to help them, the next generation. And I believe that that is what the Turnbull government is indeed delivering.

Madam Deputy President, and Senator Steele-John, there are 76 people in this place and 150 in the other place who, while they may very well disagree about the path, want Harry and his generation's future to be as bright as humanly possible. They want to give them every opportunity to thrive, to grow, to flourish and to succeed. Sixteen-year-olds don't need a vote. What they need most of all is responsible parliamentarians with sound minds, courageous spirits—as is yours, Senator Steele-John—and good hearts to pave that path for them.