“My bill to lower the voting age to 16 and waive fines for 16 and 17 year olds will be one of the first bills introduced in the new Parliament.” Thank you Stephen Bates – Greens for Brisbane 👏
More from Stephen:
Young people deserve a seat at the table to participate in our democracy. Right now, they’re inheriting a broken environment, economy and worsening living conditions, but aren’t afforded the same say in our democracy as others.
Young people are being forced onto the street in the thousands to protest the inaction of their Government. They’re more politically engaged than ever before. Politicians need to know that if they want to hold onto their seats, they need to engage with the ideas of 16 and 17 year olds, or be held accountable for their failure to do so.
My bill to lower the voting age to 16 and waive fines for 16 and 17 year olds will be one of the first bills introduced in the new Parliament.
There’s already extensive literature and international evidence that lowering the voting age increases lifelong civic participation, with young people benefitting far more from political education in school when they have a stake in participating in the system themselves. It’s time to get it done. Let’s lower the voting age to 16.
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