The Greens launch bid to lower voting age to 16 in Australia
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The Greens now want all 16-year-olds to have the right to vote and are fighting for the lower voting age in Australia next year.
- The Greens want a bill lowering the voting age to 16 to be a priority
- Lowering the voting age will be one of his top legislative priorities next year.
- The bill is unlikely to succeed without the support of the Albanian government.
Lowering the voting age to 16 will be one of the first bills tabled when parliament resumes when the Greens outline their legislative priorities.
The minority party that maintains the balance of power in the Senate says it wants the bill to be the first taxi out of range in the lower house next year.
But unlike their adult counterparts, voting for those under 18 would not be mandatory and they would not be fined for not casting their vote.
But the bill is unlikely to succeed without government support.
It is not the first time the Greens have introduced a bill to lower the voting age, as Western Australia Senator Jordon Steele-John decided to do so in 2018.
The Greens want a bill lowering the voting age to 16 to be a priority when parliament resumes. In the photo, the leader Adam Bandt.
Melbourne Greens member Adam Bandt and his wife Claudia Perkins arrive for the annual Mid-Winter Ball at Parliament House in Canberra in September 2018
New Greens MP for Brisbane, Stephen Bates, will get another chance in 2023, saying young people deserve a seat at the table.
He says that major issues like climate change, the economy and the cost of living are affecting young people, but they have no way to have their voices heard.
“They have limited ways to hold politicians to account,” he said.
‘Students are taking to the streets by the thousands to demand action on the climate crisis.
‘They have no other choice. They are being left out of critical decisions that affect them and they want their voices to be heard.’
Brisbane MP says 16-year-olds are trusted to drive cars, join the army and work.
“However, they have no say in the composition of their own government,” he said.
Sixteen-year-olds can vote in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Ecuador, Estonia, Malta, Scotland and Wales.
Bates has filed a notice of intent to move his private members bill when parliament resumes in February.
ACT colleagues from the Greens also tabled a bill in late 2021 to lower the voting age to 16 for territorial elections.