Photographer :
Yellow @ flickr
American Journalist Sydney J. Harris once said, ‘democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.’ Democracy and freedom of choice is an important part of what is means to be Australian. Our ability to choose and participate in the election of our national leaders is, in my opinion, what makes Australia such a peaceful and desirable place to live. Recently we’ve seen the impact public opinion can have on the selection of government officials, with the election of our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and in my state, Tasmania, the resignation of Premier Paul Lennon after a 17 per cent approval rating.
While every Australian over the age of 18 has the right to vote, it was proposed at this year’s 2020 Youth Summit that those younger then 18 should have the right to vote and participate in elections. The proposal put forward by delegate Simon Sheikh, 22, as noted on 14 April 2008 in
The Sydney Morning Herald, was to lower the voting age to 16. He argued that ‘lowering the voting age would help marginalised people engage in the electoral process.’ I recently interviewed Tasmania’s Speaker of the House of Assembly, the Honorable Michael Polley, for a class assignment, and discussed one of his earlier political activities. At the young age of 22, Mr. Polley campaigned, along with many others who were against the Vietnam War, for the age of voting to be lowered from 21 to 18. He believed that if people were able to be conscripted at the age of 19 then they should be allowed to vote. Out of this decision also came the legal drinking age.
To go to war and have no ability to participate in the elections of those who send you is a critical reason to question the legal voting age. However, at a time when conscription is no longer an issue I can see no reason why the age of voters should be reduced to 16. If the voting age was reduced, the next issue to be raised might well be the lowering of the legal drinking age. Consider the epidemic of underage binge drinkers as reported by many media sources such as
The Age, News.Com.Au, the
ABC and others. The question that needs deliberating is: if the voting age is lowered to 16 are we asking young people to grow up too fast?
It wasn’t until I was 18 that I realised I was an adult, that I was expected to vote, I was expected to act responsibly. Off with
Home and Away and on with the nightly news, put aside
Dolly and pick up
The Monthly. The reason I knew all this was because as a legal citizen there were expectations of me. The elderly no longer smiled as my friends and I ran wildly down the street; instead they shook their heads and told us to grow up. The point I’m making is why should young people throw away the best of their teenage years discussing politics? Australia’s youth should be contributing to society in a unique and individual way. Why should the ballot boxes be filled with donkey votes from underage voters who have no interest in politics?
If the age of voters were to be changed perhaps an alternative should be considered? The government should consider voluntary votes for those under 18. Voluntary votes would mean that young people under the age of 18 genuinely interested in politics and making a contribution can register to vote, however are not obliged by law to do so. Youth is a precious and fleeting thing; it should be wasted on the task of growing up.
