Page 4100 - Week 13 - Thursday, 2 December 2021
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barriers to doing that. That is not a reason not to look at an issue; that is a reason to look at an issue properly and to make sure we get it right.
All of these social and political issues continue to compound and continue to impact on the future of young people. That means we do not have any more time to spare on this. We need to make sure that we do this right. We can be the first Australian jurisdiction to do it, but we are, of course, not the first in the world. We can create a model that other Australian jurisdictions can be inspired by. We can demonstrate what it means to be a progressive jurisdiction. I know we are used to that here; we love doing that here. It is time to do it again.
We do not want to create a buzz then be forgotten about and have some future assembly come back to this again, maybe in another 25 years, and still not have resolved this. We want to empower young people now. We want to strengthen our democracy and combat the feeling of helplessness that so many young people have; we want to combat that feeling that they have about a bunch of out-of-touch politicians who are making the wrong choices on their behalf!
Young people are the future and they are our future leaders. We are the leaders now. It is up to us to give them a voice now. They cannot do it unless we do that for them. Whilst we want to empower young people to vote and to share with us their ideas and solutions, we have the responsibility to represent them. We need to do outreach and consultation with them; we need to cultivate their civic engagement.
We are acutely aware of all of the pressures that 16- and 17-year-olds are experiencing. We need to listen and implement solutions for them so that they do not feel the world’s weight on their shoulders and so that we can prepare the path for them.
As well as all of the trail-blazing youth activists, like the school strikers and those who attend rallies, we know there are many young people who are not that interested in politics. There are some who want to learn more. There are some who maybe do not want to learn more; they are simply disengaged. That is a really good reason to engage them and give them a voice. They might be busy finishing school, they might be worried about getting a meal—they might be worried about a whole lot of issues. They are not going to engage in politics if they do not have any voice in it. That is exactly why we need to expand voting rights and give them that voice.
We want young people to vote. We believe in the inherent value of youth political participation. More people voting makes for a stronger democracy. The more experiences, views and diversity that we have, the more we have a representative democracy, and the more we are accountable to every sector of the community that we represent.
We envision that this will drive innovation in our political system. It will motivate every one of us here to consider all of the forms of political participation, not just the ballot box. It will make sure that we adapt to consider the emerging ways that young people express themselves, and it will make sure that we take it upon ourselves to meet them where they are. We want young people to know that their views—whether
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