Hockey bucks party on automatic enrolment of young voters

JOE Hockey has broken ranks with his Liberal colleagues to advocate automatic enrolment of young voters

JOE Hockey has broken ranks with his Liberal colleagues to advocate automatic enrolment of young voters, declaring the new position last night in a speech at the University of New England.

Liberal members of the joint standing committee on electoral matters, which reported on last year's federal election this month, issued a dissenting report opposed to automatic voter enrolment. Mr Hockey told his audience last night: "I am a strong advocate for automatic enrolment of young Australians . . . through the high school system with provisional enrolment starting at 16 rather than 17".

The opposition Treasury spokesman said it was time the commonwealth followed the lead of the states.

"We have already started automatic enrolment on a state level, but the Commonwealth Electoral Act prohibits the AEC from using details from state enrolments to enrol people. Perhaps it is time for this to change," Mr Hockey said.

Liberals have long opposed automatic enrolment for young people on the assumption the extra voters it would attract into the process would be more likely to vote for left-wing parties.

Shunning such thinking, Mr Hockey said last night: "Often that 'little nudge' is all that is needed to push young people towards active and sustained involvement in the political sphere."