‘It would be a mistake to think young voters were rallying around Labor’: What millennials and Gen Z said about the election result

For the first time, Gen Z and millennials outnumbered baby boomers at the ballot box. Here’s what they had to say about the election result.

Jessica Dalziel and Tennielle Allanson said they were excited to have women representing Tasmania in parliament. Picture: Linda Higginson

For the first time, Gen Z and millennials outnumbered baby boomers at the ballot box.

While the Coalition has been banished from Tasmania and Labor has won a strong national majority, a number of young voters across the political spectrum told the Mercury they weren’t actively voting for Anthony Albanese, but against Peter Dutton.

Voting in Franklin and Lyons respectively, Jessica Dalziel and Tennielle Allanson said they didn’t know why the Coalition went after things that made life better for average Australians.

“Things like banning working from home, that would have really affected my friends,” Ms Allanson said.

Ms Dalziel and Ms Allanson said they were excited about a strong female presence in parliament, with four out of Tasmania’s five electorates won by women.

“I went to school with Bec White, I’m really happy with the result,” Ms Allanson said.

27-year-old Ryan said he is “somewhat disappointed” by a Labor majority government.

“I voted for a progressive minor party with the knowledge my preferences would flow to Labor,” he said.

“It would be a mistake to think young voters were rallying around Labor. This can however be seen as an emphatic rejection of Dutton’s Trump-style politics.”

For 27 year old Eddie, he said he voted independent for the first time as he didn’t trust either major party to represent him on issues like climate change and social inequality.

“I actually put the independent first as I’m not a huge fan of either major party, but realistically I think Labor ended up with my vote,” he said.

“But basically because I absolutely cannot stand Dutton or the Libs, Labor felt the lesser of two evils.”

Samantha Bridges, 24, said the Coalition’s stance on issues like homophobia, immigration, and racism made them seem not just out of touch, but genuinely frightening.

“A lot of my friends were scared the Coalition would begin eroding protections for people just based on who they are,” she said.

“As apathetic as I am towards Anthony Albanese, Dutton just continuously showed me that he was willing to put marginalised people back in the firing line and debate social issues that most empathetic people have accepted are no longer up for debate.”

22-year-old regional nurse Mathilda struggled with her vote, saying she felt Labor had abandoned rural communities, but did not see a good alternative in Peter Dutton.

“I think Labor has crippled my community and didn’t want to vote for them, but I also didn’t want Peter Dutton as my prime minister,” she said.

“I wanted someone who cared about people working in primary industries but had a proper plan for climate change so I was left having to choose.”

Jeremy Davis, 25, said he voted Greens because he felt meaningful cost of living relief was a matter of helping people put food on the table and stopping out of control rent increases.

“No other generation has been asked to choose between buying a home or having retirement savings,” he said.

“I am really happy to pay my way but it feels like the finish line keeps getting moved further away.”

Originally published as ‘It would be a mistake to think young voters were rallying around Labor’: What millennials and Gen Z said about the election result