It’s so easy to get all cynical about the state of politics, especially when it comes to The Young People who supposedly have the lowest faith in democracy of any cohort in generations. And it’s not hard to see why they might feel that way given the past decade of Australian fustercluckery in Canberra.
But here’s some news that suggests that maybe, just maybe, the young people aren’t quite as done with it after all:
A record 96.8% of eligible Australians are enrolled for the 2019 federal election. This is the most complete electoral roll in history with youth enrolment also an all-time high of 88.8% (18-24 YOs) #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/CjIK5Dl5gX
— AEC (@AusElectoralCom) April 23, 2019
And why is Australian enjoying the highest level of voter registration ever, especially among young voters? Has democracy officially been deemed “lit”? Are Australia’s youth just super into sausage sizzles?
It’s an entirely-expected side effect of the same sex marriage not-actually-a-plebiscite postal survey in 2017, which saw young people that couldn’t be arsed registering for the 2016 federal election leap at the chance to have their voices heard. That single event was essentially the best voter registration drive in Australian history.
And given that the postal vote was arguably a cynical attempt by conservative forces within the government to try and sway the result by deliberately choosing an arcane and inconvenient methodology that would favour older and thus more conservative voters, this might end up being a hell of an own-goal.
Pictured: a metaphor.
After all, how many of the people voting Yes for marriage equality are feeling well-disposed to the current PM? After all, this was a man who told the media “My view is, look I am voting no, it is OK to say no and people should know that”, and was so committed to this matter of gosh-darn principle that he later scurried out of the chamber rather than vote on it in the parliament.
Guess we’ll find out in May!