School students protesting for climate action earlier this year. The Greens want to give Australians aged 16 and 17 the vote.Credit:Wolter Peeters
“Sixteen and 17-year-olds can drive cars,work,enlist in the Australian Defence Force,and serve their communities,yet they have no say in the composition of their own government,” Bates said.
“Students are taking to the streets in their thousands to demand action on the climate crisis. They have no other choice. They’re being left out of the critical decisions that impact them and want their voices to be heard.”
In this year’sMission Australia Youth Survey of nearly 19,000 15 to 19-year-olds,51 per cent said the environment was one of the most important issues in Australia,and nearly 36 per cent said equality and discrimination was a key issue. Mental health was the third most important issue,according to the survey.
Earlier this yearschool students protested at Kirribilli house,demanding then-prime minister Scott Morrison take greater action against climate change.
Brisbane Greens MP Stephen Bates will move a bill to lower the voting age.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
It’s the second time the party has attempted to get the voting age lowered in the last five years after Greens senator Jordon Steele-John introduced a bill in 2018. That bill was sent to a committee for an inquiry and in 2019 the committee,led by LNP senator James McGrath,recommended it not be passed.