Page 2576 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 25 September 2007
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Leave granted.
MS PORTER: I move:
That the report be authorised for publication.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
MS PORTER: I move:
That the report be noted.
As members are aware, on 19 March this year the Standing Committee on Education, Training and Young People accepted a reference from the Assembly to inquire into the proposal to lower the voting age to allow 16 and 17-year-old ACT residents to vote in elections and referendums for the ACT Legislative Assembly. I am pleased to be able to table and speak to the report on this inquiry today.
The committee, having accepted the reference of the inquiry, decided on the scope of the inquiry and determined to consider the following issues which it believed have a bearing on the participation of young people aged 16 and 17 years in the electoral process: national conformity and consistency with other jurisdictions; the legal implications of compulsory enrolment and voting for young people; eligibility for election to the ACT Legislative Assembly; resource implications of extending and maintaining the ACT electoral roll; issues affecting the electoral awareness of young people; different electoral models; and other factors that influence the democratic participation of young people.
The committee sought submissions from a wide range of organisations and individuals. A full list of those organisations and individuals who participated either via submission and/or attendance at hearings can be found in appendices A and B. The committee also visited ACT colleges, and I would like to place on the record my thanks to, and appreciation of, the staff and students of Copeland, Lake Ginninderra and Radford colleges. I am sure my fellow committee members would agree that meeting with and hearing from the young people at these colleges, as well as the hearing at which we heard from the ACT College Representative Committee, were highlights of this inquiry.
Additionally, the committee was fortunate to be able to visit Queensland, where it met with Mr Ronan Lee MP, who was a member of the Queensland parliamentary inquiry on young people and democracy in 2006. During this visit the committee was also fortunate to be able to meet with Dr Graeme Orr, who provided legal advice on the matter which can be found in appendix D.
I refer members to the 10 recommendations of the committee. Members will see that the question of whether ACT young people aged 16 and 17 years should be given the opportunity to vote in elections and referendums in the ACT was not supported in a wholehearted way by the young people that we met with; nor was there agreement
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