Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

In the last 12 months we have had hundreds of thousands of young people in Australia and around the world take to the streets to demand action from their governments to fight the climate crisis. Mostly teenagers, they recognise that we are in a climate emergency. This rising-up by the world's young is almost unprecedented in human history, which is not surprising because the climate crisis we all face is unprecedented in human history and the youth of today know it. They also know that it's on their shoulders that the terrible burden of the climate crisis will rest.

In the words of Swedish student and leader of the youth revolt Greta Thunberg:

The year 2078 I will celebrate my 75th birthday. If I have children maybe they will spend that day with me. Maybe they will ask me about you. Maybe they will ask why you didn't do anything while there still was time to act. You say you love your children above all else and yet you're stealing their future in front of their very eyes.

Today's young people are also some of the most educated and knowledgeable young people in human history. High-school retention rates around the world have never been higher, and our youth have access to the internet storehouse of information and the means of instant social communication in the palms of their hands. They know what is happening to the world, and they know who is responsible. They are, by definition, model active citizens. Yet most of the world's young people, including Australian teenagers, are denied the right to vote and to determine their country's, and therefore the world's, future, and that is why they have taken to the streets.

The Greens believe that this reality of the climate crisis is one of the most profound reasons why our longstanding policy of enfranchising young people should finally, once and for all, be implemented. That's why today I'm proud to introduce to the House this bill to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote. Before I outline the details of the bill and the specific changes to the law it makes, I want to pay tribute to my colleague Senator Jordon Steele-John for developing this bill. Senator Steele-John first introduced this bill to the Senate last year. I want to commend him and take note of the strong campaign that he is running not only to give young people the right to vote but also to secure their rights more broadly. The average age of politicians in this place is around 50, so is it any wonder that young people feel disenfranchised by parliamentary politics? We need more leaders like Senator Steele-John in this parliament. He outlined very clearly the need for this bill when introducing it to the Senate last year:

There are almost 600,000 of us who are, by and large, deemed to be adults by our society and yet cannot participate in the decisions being made about their future. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds can work full time, pay tax, contribute to superannuation, drive a car and own a car and therefore pay stamp duty to contribute to maintenance of our roads and public transport infrastructure. They can legally have sex and make medical decisions about their bodies. They can join our political parties, all except, of course, the absent Ms Hanson's party. In many cases, they can be treated as an adult by our criminal justice system. In short, they cannot vote although they are treated in many ways by our society as adults.

…   …   …

My generation will have to live with the consequences of the decisions made in this place for the longest time. The fact that I am the youngest person in this place by close to a decade, and that I am the only person under the age of 30, speaks volumes about the lack of representation of Australia's young people in our political system. It is time we recognised 16- and 17-year-olds and their contribution. It is time we recognised they should have the right to a vote and that they make an enormous contribution to our society.

The mechanism to give 16- and 17-year-olds the vote is relatively straightforward. The bill includes amendments to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 and the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984. The changes to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 are intended to lower the minimum age of a voter in Australian federal elections and referenda from 18 years of age to 16 years of age while keeping the minimum age of compulsory voting and eligibility to stand as a federal parliamentarian at 18 years of age. This change would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to be added to the electoral roll in preparation for their eligibility to vote at 16 years of age. The changes to the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984 are intended to ensure that the Electoral Commissioner includes 16- and 17-year-olds in the certified list of voters and that 16- and 17-year-olds will not be given a penalty notice if they don't vote.

In other words, by lowering the voting age to 16 but leaving the compulsory age for voting at 18, we're creating a grace period for young people, allowing them to familiarise themselves with the electoral process, giving them the right to vote if they so choose but without the fear of being penalised if they don't. It will facilitate greater civics education and allow teachers to bring the democratic process itself—not partisan politics—into classrooms in a tangible way. It will foster a culture of civic participation amongst young people, leaving them in good stead for the rest of their lives, as we know that voting is in fact a habit, and we want them to form this habit early so that it stays with them.

There are some positive international experiences of lowering the voting age. In Scotland, for example, during the independence referendum in 2014 a decision was made to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote and to participate for the first time. Almost 80 per cent of that age group turned out. That cohort now continues to turn out at a much higher rate than their predecessors who weren't given an earlier opportunity. In Austria the 16- and 17-year-old demographic has a higher level of participation than the 18-to-25-year-old demographic, proving that this kind of reform works. In Austria, 16- and 17-year-olds are now able to vote in most elections. These international experiences should give us the confidence to make this reform here.

Finally, this bill seeks to update our archaic electoral practices that say, 'You are not allowed to participate on election day if you have not updated your details on the electoral roll.' It is 2019, and we should be flexible enough in our system to allow people to do so at a polling place on polling day. This bill provides that Australians who are eligible to vote but who are not yet on the electoral roll or are not enrolled at their correct address can enrol to vote or update their address at a polling centre on election day or at an early voting centre and will be deemed to be enrolled at that address and eligible to cast a provisional vote at that time.

We regularly hear in the commentary the bemoaning of young people's lack of engagement in society or the deploring of them for always being on their mobile phones, but when Australia's students lead the country's participation in the global climate strike, we heard the same politicians and adults complaining about their skipping school and getting involved in politics.

Some politicians and shock jocks like to suggest that young people are somehow being manipulated or are not thinking for themselves. In the same vein, the objections raised against young people having a vote suggest that young people are not smart or independent enough to vote, that they are not ready enough to make such big decisions. These are the same objections that were made 200 years ago against working men having a vote or a century ago against women having a vote or, more recently, against Aboriginal Australians having a vote—arguments that we no longer accept. The Australian Greens reject such discrimination. We believe that young people, like all Australians, are capable of making decisions for themselves. We don't fear more democratic participation; in fact, we welcome it. We are confident that if young people have the vote they will use it wisely. It's time to lower the voting age to 16 in Australia and show our young people that we, here in this place, hear them, that we care about their opinions and that we are working for their future. I commend the bill to the House.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.