The ABC notes that a report has been tabled in the ACT Legislative Assembly – recommending that the Government consider lowering the voting age to 16.
Only in the ACT can you expect such loopy proposals. Such a policy would be a boon to fringe parties like the Greens, who often have the younger, naive, voters captured with their idealistic rhetoric.
Discuss.
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16 year olds vote for stuff like Australian Idol and the Logies – this should serve as a warning to everyone who would consider allowing anyone this young to vote in Territory elections!
Ralph,
I don’t always agree with you, but this time you are correct.
I reckon that lovely lady in the bundaberg shirt on another thread would probably get elected.
Who cares what her policies are…
Who cares about her policies when she has a rack like that?
I haven’t been 16 for a long time, but I’d vote for her! 🙂
I agree, she had 2 nice polices.
And you seldom get to see two so well rounded policies presented in such an upfront manner by politicians these days.
Their statement that the plan would need to be backed up by education on the electoral system is a concession that these people are not mature enough to vote.
The kids are getting enough environmental propaganda, and teachers’ union propaganda thrown at them already. What a great captive market they would have there.
This plan is the sort of thing you’d expect to hear from a place like Quebec.
The frightening thing is that, with Foskey’s help, this is a lay down misere…
16 year olds work, use public transport and other government services and they are affected by changes in the education system. Why shouldn’t they be allowed to have a say?
It’s not like they’re a massive majority. Canberra, like most of Australia, has a rapidly aging population and all you oldies obviously have no idea how to run the planet.
Another stupid, hopeless waste of time idea.
Planet’s running along swimmingly. Now that’s a job for the big people.
They can vote when they turn 18.
It’s pretty funny the strength of opposition to the idea. It seems to be unchallengeable dogma that people change from being shifty, immature, unreliable layabouts to fine, informed, mature upstanding members of society at precisely the age of 18.
Have you ever wondered… well.. why?
I would support the idea, but only if were for optional voting – I am quite sure that only the most politically aware 16 year olds could be bothered to register if it were optional.
I don’t think people believe everyone somehow ‘gets’ maturity on the day they wake up as 18 year olds, it’s more to do with the fact that 18 is legal adulthood, at which time you can legally make your own decisions. Selecting the represented government of the day is thus done by legal adults.
Totally agree with you on the Greens comment Ralph. Eventually, people grow up and realise that voting for the Greens is comparable to throwing your voting form in the bin.
16 year olds voting? What a astonishingly stupid idea. These are the same people who voted for Casey Donovan in Australian Idol
Ahh, but there’s many legal decisions you can take from the age of 16 too – even more if you are emancipated from your parents. 16 year olds can legally enter into contracts on their own behalf, for example.
Anyway, I can see why reasonable people could disagree on this, what I don’t understand is the eye-popping, vein-bulging apoplexy it seems to have provoked (even taking into account the base level of outraged indignation that’s a riotact commenter’s stock-in-trade).
put it to the vote.
hang on, they never put there loopy ideas up to the public do they ?
the public only see the nice professional face.
loopys and union thugs are told to hide in the cupboard until after the election.
hingo: And then after that they grow up a little more and realise that under a single-transferrable-vote preferential voting system the only vote that is comparable to throwing your voting form in bin is an informal vote?
Following caf’s logic we should also let them go out boozing and smoking as well.
The sad thing is bonfire this would likely get approved by any referendum in the ACT, along with as plethora of other left-wing tokenisms such as legalising drugs, restorative justice programmes, gay marriages etc.
I’m with caf. I know plenty of mature, responsible 16 and 17 year olds who would love to vote and who would think very carefully about their vote. Those who couldn’t give a flying wouldn’t have to vote.
And Ralph, as a teacher I’m extremely careful about what I say to my students. There is no propaganda involved, but you have to give them an education about the process and the issues involved.
And for the same reasons that you think this proposal would benefit left wing parties, any opposition to it would benefit right wing parties. Let the kids decide!
For every mature and responsible 16 year old you show me, I’ll show you 2 that are deadshits with no political opinions at all.
As a former student, I know that many teachers do push their political opinios onto their students. I don’t think they have the life experience to know what they are voting for.