Greens renew calls to lower voting age to 16 after petition tabled in Legislative Assembly

Young people should be both adult enough to make sound judgement and also they should have enough time to make their mind. Elections are held every 4 years. To make informed choice at the next elections at the age of 16, kids as young as 12 would be expected to follow politics and they don’t. Perhaps 18 is lowest as 16 year old will have a couple of years between elections to make their mind.

The Greens really can’t hold a coherent position on anything can they?

They have been calling to raise the legal age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 14 because our youth aren’t old enough to understand the repercussions of their actions, but a mere 2 years later they are old enough to understand the responsibility of voting and having a say in our democratic lifestyle.

So which is it, are they responsible enough or not?

And don’t tell me the 2 year age gap brings enough maturity – having been a teenage male, at 16 I was still an immature idiot.

Think about your 16 year old self and be honest, you would have been rather naive and seen things in black and white. As for being able to consent to medical procedures, sex and so on, that isn’t a decision about the whole nation, it just affects the individual. Third point, then I’ll stop, depending on which year you were born it might not change anything for which election is actually the first that one gets to vote in – there might not be one between your 16th and 18th birthday anyway (not sure if that is an argument for or against, it’s just point that nobody has raised).

Most 16 year olds I know are much better informed and engaged than people of their parent’s age.

What a joke.
All political parties favour any specific electoral reform that favours their particular party.

I think the voting age should be raised to 35 an include an IQ test.

I can think of no better way to educate kids about the democratic process than participating in it.

If schools exist to prepare kids for adulthood and ‘the economy’, then voting at 16 reinforced with detailed civics education (that would be beyond many teachers I have met, tbh) would be a logical inclusion into the curriculum.

And the ACT, Australia’s most progressive jurisdiction is where this policy should be rolled out first.

I think it should be optional from 16 and compulsory from 18.
It means that schools could make a compulsory relevant unit in the lead up to an (federal or territory election) on how government works and which government is responsible for what.
But mostly because that transition from full time school to further education and work is one of the largest areas where government policy will have a direct influence on a persons life and they should be able to have a say in that.

NO NO a thousand times NO! Lift it back to 21. 16 year olds have passionate emotions but a brain struggling to catch up in judgement.

““The majority of sixteen and seventeen year olds already work and pay taxes, but don’t get a say on how those taxes are spent.”

To state that the majority of sixteen and seventeen year olds not only work but make enough money to exceed the highly generous tax free threshold in this country is a blatant lie and they know it.

They just want young people, who lack the knowledge and life experience to see through the Green’s garbage policies to be able to vote as they know that they are far easier to sway with emotions based arguments and have never experienced a large chunk of their take home pay being paid on tax.

I suppose this all comes about because the Greens – in a very real way – are no more than 16 in the head, too, and yet truly believe they understand life