This is why young Labor voters like me are still hurting

In trying to understand the election outcome, I’ve been called a sore loser, told to get over it and had cherrypicked data thrown in my face. None of this has helped to answer my very legitimate questions, writes Alice Trewhitt.

Like many Australians, the past week of my life has consisted of a lot of ruminating about the Labor Party’s loss of an ‘unlosable’ election.

I’ve been thinking about what went wrong for the Labor Party, what went right for the Liberal-National Coalition, what the next few years will mean for our nation and why there were so many young Australians like myself who came out in support of a conservative government.

Much has been of why and how the polls were so off and got some people’s hopes up to begin with, and why certain states and seats voted the way it did, but little has been made of the young cohort that ultimately helped carry Morrison and his gang into power. And that’s who I want to know about.

Celebrations were on for young and old at Scott Morrison's Coalition Election Night party in Sydney. Picture: Hollie Adams/The Australian

Saturday night’s outcome, and some media justifications of young Liberal voters’ decisions at the ballot box, has left me feeling whiplashed.

It’s like being caught off-guard by an argument and walking away thinking of all the things you wish you had said (which would have been so witty and on point that they definitely would have won the argument instantly) if you had just been able to think of them at the time.

And like many Australians, rather than throwing tweets and slurs, I’m simply trying to understand — and process — what happened. That’s a reasonable thing to do when you suffer what feels like a crushing loss; that’s democracy.

If the shoe was on the other foot many Liberal supporters would surely be doing the same thing right now.

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I’m very happy to admit and acknowledge that I live in a bubble. It extends from my university friends and close family to my work colleagues and even gym-buddies and friends I’ve made walking my dog (who is the light of my life, a fat English bulldog). Of course, it’s probably of no surprise to anyone that I live in the inner-northern suburbs of Melbourne, but my bubble is a pretty great one.

The issue isn’t that Bill Shorten as a leader didn’t win, it’s that Labor as a party — who many young voters considered to have the better policies of the two — didn’t. Picture: AP/Andy Brownbill

At the start of the week, while sipping my instant coffee and eating my homemade overnight oats (because like many my age I’m attempting to save for a house), I didn’t want to feel angry or lambaste the entire state of Queensland for the choices they made. What I wanted was some closure; to open my mind up to the world outside my bubble and understand what is motivating young educated people to vote Liberal — reasoning I’d be better for it and would likely find some solace.

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Instead, we’ve been met is calls of being a sore loser and half-baked arguments that cherrypick policies of the past and gloss over facts that don’t suit those arguing the case.

Despite my bubble, of course, I can agree that there have been Liberal policies of the past that have been positive for Australia. Mandatory voting, the creation of SBS and gun reforms are all positive policies that have unquestionably made Australia a better country. But these historic moments bear no reason to vote Liberal in this election.

Spirits were high at Morrison’s party in Sydney. Picture: Gary Ramage/News Corp Australia

What’s more, listing Malcolm Fraser’s acceptance of Vietnamese refugees as a win for the Liberal history books while seeming to forget that in 2009, Fraser formally resigned from the Liberal Party, citing it had changed too much is grossly ignorant at best. In 2011, four years before he died, Fraser also declared that the then Liberal Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott was “dangerous” and “unpredictable”.

And if we’re going to judge on past efforts of a party, most political historians regard the Hawke/Keating Labor government to be the most successful in Australia’s history, but I digress.

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What I really want to know from my educated contemporaries who voted for the LNP over the weekend is why this government? What policies led by this government are you supportive of? Which policies are going to benefit you directly and in real time?

Labor MP Brendan O'Connor was visibly shocked after it became clear Labor would not form government. Picture: Stuart McEvoy/The Australian

It can’t be the protection of franking credits or protections to negative gearing. Surely you had no desire to re-elect those who continue to deny climate change or support the Adani coal mine over renewable energy? Was it the sheer brazenness of Clive Palmer giving the LNP a golden handshake to the tune of $60 million after failing to pay his workers the near $70 million they’re owed? Given your age, I’m guessing you’re not in the top earning bracket (although all power to you if you are) to benefit from the proposed tax changes, so you can’t have been motivated by a personal desire to protect the rich and your personal riches from tax increases. Was it that — for whatever reasons — the idea of Bill Shorten being PM was something that you considered to be too great a cost for the next three years?

I am not trying to point the finger or attack. I’m simply trying to understand.

So please, tell me. Why? Why this government? Why these policies? I need to know so I can get some sleep without having nightmares about my future children having to wear masks outside on their walk to school (which is probably falling apart because the funding has been diverted to Catholic and independent schools).

Until then, I guess I’ll continue to sip my instant coffee and talk to my dog about the very dark fears causing me anxiety. It’s much cheaper than real therapy — which is likely to remain unaffordable given the newly elected government’s policies on healthcare until the next ‘unlosable’ election rolls around.

Alice Trewhitt is a Labor supporter.

Originally published as This is why young Labor voters like me are still hurting