I’m 16 — and trust me, we are too young to vote

As a politically interested 16-year-old, I’d savour the ability to vote. But classmates ask me who the President is. That strikes me as a gaping hole in our understanding of politics.

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I never thought I’d see the words “Thank you, Bill Shorten” printed underneath my byline, but it’s a funny old world and strange things happen.

Thank you, Bill Shorten, for announcing that you’d lower the voting age to 16 should you win government next year. You’ve generated quite a bit of work for me this week. All in the midst of exams, mind you. You could have timed it a trifle better, Bill.

But back to the issue at hand: Lowering the voting age to 16.

As a politically interested 16-year-old, I’d savour the ability to vote. Bar actually representing your constituents, there is no greater privilege in a democracy than to be allowed to vote. One day every three years, Australia gets to have its say and elect the people it sees as best to represent their interests.

That is, those who see the value in turning up to the ballot box.

As a young person, I’m not convinced that my peers are yet up to that privilege, let alone want it.

Let’s be honest, most young people are chiefly concerned with enjoying themselves, and you can’t blame them. They’re more preoccupied with cars, sport and the opposite sex (especially the opposite sex). You only experience your youth once and if you want to have fun, go for it. Politics takes a back seat and it is evident.

Classmates ask me who the President is. That strikes me as a gaping hole in our understanding of politics as a country.

Australia suffers a great deal of political illiteracy and to throw another group of people in the deep end, possibly even less knowledgeable than some adults, is not wise.

As I have argued before, there needs to be comprehensive education of the political system in Years 8, 9 and 10. Only once you comprehend the system can you understand the ramifications of your vote. You can’t expect that by piling the responsibility of voting on top of teenagers, they’ll automatically become engaged. We must first sow the seeds of interest by explaining how the “Washminster System” works.

A friend of mine told me on Monday that “For so long I believed that we had a President. Doing Year 12 Legal Studies just goes to show how little we all know about the political system.”

He is just one product of political education. I’m sure if you applied this to every student in the country, you’d end up with a cohort of young people well equipped to enter the voting world.

Mr Shorten claims it is about showing young people that he “trusts” them. But would you trust someone who wasn’t a mechanic to repair your car? First you equip them with the knowledge, then you give them the job.

One has to question Mr Shorten’s true motivation in all of this. It is no secret that young people tend to be of the Left. A study by the Whitlam Institute in 2013 found that support for the Greens amongst 18 to 24-year-olds was nearly double that of the Australian average. Mr Shorten figures there would be votes in it for him and that he could perhaps persuade some young Greens to change their vote.

With his latest Newspoll approval rating at 19 per cent, he’s desperate to find anything to rob Malcolm Turnbull of the limelight.

It could even be that Mr Shorten is using young people as a pawn in a game of politics at which he is failing spectacularly.

Mr Shorten argues that at 16 you can be employed and paying tax — though I hazard a guess that most 16-year-olds would be well below the tax-free threshold — and if the government is spending your taxes then you have the ability to determine where they go.

Most states have no minimum working age. Do we then extend the vote to anyone who is paying tax; an enterprising 12-year-old perhaps? And what of those who don’t pay tax? Do we take the vote away from pensioners, the unemployed and those on the dole?

Eighteen is the age when people are legally considered adults and it is a perfect time to extend to them the right to vote. We should recognise this proposal for what it is: Poorly timed political theatre that Mr Shorten knows he’ll never have to action.

Twitter: @TheCalebBond