Baby Boomers to flex election muscle
THE 21st century has not been entirely kind to the first batch of Baby Boomers. But things are about to change.
Analysis
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THERE has never been a more exciting time to be a 70-year-old Australian as the political winds once again blow your way.
The 21st century has not been entirely kind to the first batch of Baby Boomers, who were born in 1946 and are celebrating their 70th birthdays this year.
Where once you chirped “all you need is love’’, now all you need is that little red man to stop blinking furiously at you when you negotiate a pedestrian crossing in front of impatient drivers.
But take heart as you press on, gazing at that vast hostile terrain of bitumen yawning between you and the safety of the opposite footpath, for your political clout will soon make road crossings the stress-free experiences they were in your youth.
Just as the Baby Boomers redesigned the world to their specifications in the ’60s and ’70s, they’ll transform it in their golden years to suit a more sedate pace of life.
Where once they demanded vinyl LP records and a Whitlam government, they will now demand more time to negotiate pedestrian crossings before that red light starts giving them the bad news that it’s time to hurry up.
Where once they crowded into city streets on moratorium marches to protest against the Vietnam War, they’ll now demand more public toilets to meet the urgent demands of enlarged prostates.
Michael O’Neill, chief executive of the powerful lobby group National Seniors Australia, says that about 48 per cent of the Australian electorate is now over 50 and “the most politically engaged generation which ever lived’’ will certainly flex its muscles in the 2016 election.
Mr O’Neill says the boomers, for all the criticism they cop, is a highly educated and thoughtful cohort whose politics isn’t easily categorised, so no side should take them for granted.
The one issue that appears to unite them is the idea of “legacy’’.
They don’t want to leave behind an environmentally damaged world, nor do they want their children crowded out of ever more expensive housing markets.
“These are people who care about the world they will leave behind,’’ he says.
Originally published as Baby Boomers to flex election muscle
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