Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Citizenship requires rights, identity and participation, and all these have been eroded over time in this country by partisan politicking. We know that membership of the major parties is on the decline, and the trend is evident in many Liberal democracies. Well, here's an opportunity for them. Get onboard with lowering the voting age and start listening to young people and taking them seriously. You never know: they might just join one of your parties.

The Greens have long advocated for lowering the voting age to 16 and have introduced legislation at federal, state and territory levels to make this a reality. The simple act of lowering the voting age would demonstrate a strong commitment to young people of this country, our next generation. It is their future that is at stake, after all. Young people across this country have been taking action for years now, telling politicians that we are in a climate emergency. The least the parliament can do, if it's not going to listen and take swift, meaningful action to transition this country to net zero, is to actually give those young people the right to vote and vote you out of here.

The core principle of representative democracy is that, through democratic participation, representatives can draw on the expertise, knowledge and opinions of their constituents when forming policy and making decisions. Young constituents have very valuable knowledge, interests and experience that should actually be recognised. Those who argue against lowering the voting age claim that 16- and 17-year-olds are closer to children than to adults in their ability to reason and make sound decisions—and I've certainly seen that in my time here! Young people do not lack the political knowledge, cognitive capacity, good judgement and maturity that's needed to engage in their democracy. In fact, they have all those things. Many of our young people need the right to vote, and we should be giving it to them. (Time expired)