Young voice concerns (and it’s not just the cost of living)

It’s the election billed as the battle between Boomers and Zoomers. By most estimates, it’s the first time Gen Zs and Millennials outnumber their parents and grandparents as a voting bloc.

The parties have attempted to tailor their social media pitches accordingly on issues that disproportionately affect young people: the cost of living, HECS debts and housing. A tide of social media memes, AI ads and several diss tracks have been met with varying levels of enthusiasm from their target audience.

For 17-year-old Khang Mai, who lives in the seat of Grayndler, the chance to have his voice heard for the first time is “pretty exciting”, even more so as he turns 18 just four days before the May 3 poll.

He’ll soon be in a cohort of 76,300 extra 18 and 19-year-olds on the electoral roll since 2022, compared with just 6800 more between 2019 and 2022.

Khang is one of 20 people aged 25 and under from across Sydney that the Herald interviewed ahead of the election, where they explained the issues that matter most to them as they cast their vote.

How important is this election, and how do you feel about voting?

Khang: I’m pretty excited. I’ve been looking forward to voting because I’ve followed elections in the past, and I’ve wanted to be a part of it. (Khang was a member of the Labor Party in 2022 and 2023, but his membership has since lapsed.)

Maive: This coming election really decides where Australia stands when it comes to what [US President Donald] Trump is doing, what’s going on in eastern Europe and the Middle East, and what are we hoping to add to the global space.

Coby: I’m part of the Jewish community, and it’s feeling like things are a bit tense at the moment, and scary for some. I do feel like this election will have a relatively important part to play.

Natasha: This election feels like the most important election that I have lived to witness. It’s the first time I’ll be able to vote, and I think that the outcomes that we could be seeing are really vastly different and mean really different things for young people.

Jiya: This election is definitely important because there have been major issues that have arisen [over] the last three years, like inflation and the high cost of living.

Nikki: To be completely honest, I don’t know if a new party or an election is going to change that much. I feel fine because, in my mind, I just don’t think that much will change.

Georja: We’re not really taught about the voting process … we’re not taught about things in layman’s terms, and we’re not taught about how things work with each policy and what they mean, so that makes it very confusing.

Do politicians understand your generation?

Kai: I think young people are very underrepresented in politics. I don’t think we have our needs addressed much, especially when it comes to things like housing and education. I think the world is really expensive for a young person, and it’s very difficult to survive.

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Natasha: It feels like we’re political chess pieces. That politicians are just throwing around words like “cost-of-living relief” and things like that. Young people have it so tough and aren’t being seen or heard in politics, and haven’t in a long time.

Coby: I just don’t think they’re really trying to understand the younger generation who will obviously be leading the country in the future. I just don’t think that they are trying to understand issues facing younger generations.

WenYuan: There definitely could be more done to look after the interests of younger people, especially with stuff like the environment. Acting very sluggish on that kind of shows a disinterest in looking after Australia for future generations.

Grace: Gen Z and Millennials are the biggest voting bloc this election. You can’t just skew your policies to old people who own homes. It just won’t work.

How do you feel about politics in general?

Georja: You’re making a vote based on the advertisement that is provided, which is basically the smear and fear campaigns on why the other party is worse than the party that you should vote for. Everyone’s just focusing on showing why the other leader would be worse, rather than why they would be good.

Grace: I’m clued into politics, but broadly frustrated. I feel like a lot of politics should be about people and about representation, but I think we’re really seeing the politics of big business and giant corporations instead of everyday people.

Viola: As a Jewish Australian, I haven’t had the choice to not be informed, especially with the events of the past year or two. If I don’t read the news, then I’m very much left out of a huge bubble of my community.

What are the policies that have stood out the most to you?

Matthew: I’m a big fan of having 20 per cent of my uni debt deleted. That sounds great. I’m a few grand up just from that alone. And although I know the news likes to hammer on about the 70¢ a day tax cut … man, that’s like 250 bucks a year. I’ll take it.

Charlotte: I think [the Coalition’s policy of] super for housing is the most ridiculous, economically illiterate thing I’ve ever heard of. I think that just inflates the entire issue and ignores the root cause of it, which is the treatment of housing as predominantly an investment.

Ethan: None of the policies so far have really jumped out at me, and I have been following the news. Every time I open my news app I’m just like “ah bullshit”. It’s just repetitive, and it’s just politicians arguing at this point and not really focusing on the main point, which is helping out Australians.

What are the biggest issues for you?

Sebastian: Foreign policy and how Australia is going to take a part in that. Whether we will be a force for Trump or maybe push back a little bit.

Viola: Cost of living, I think, is probably the biggest drawcard here as well as education. I’ve always valued the importance of education … making university education more accessible.

Natasha: None of the major parties want to talk about the climate crisis, but they want to talk about energy. You can’t talk about one without the other.

Jiya: The [HECS] fees I’m going to be paying will be from my salary in the future, and that’s pretty scary to think about. University students are going to graduate soon and then go into jobs, but they’re not sure about how their money will be.

WenYuan: Energy policy. I studied renewable energy engineering, so it’s good that I know what’s up, but it’s also kind of depressing because my career prospects could hang in the balance with this election. We could seriously mess up the environment; we could seriously jeopardise our ability to transition to a more sustainable, more responsive grid.

Khang: A lot of people are having a hard time, but I think people also need to remember that there’s other, quite long-term issues that aren’t really prominent right now, like climate and infrastructure.

How do you feel about the leaders?

Mary Anne: I know who they are, I’ve seen them around. But it’s not like I really know them. You hear their names, you see them around in the media, but it’s in and out.

Kai: With [Prime Minister Anthony] Albanese, I feel a little bit disappointed … but I don’t like [Opposition Leader] Peter Dutton. For one thing, his approach to trans healthcare issues. That’s a big one for me because I am a trans person.

Khang: I don’t think [the prime minister] is doing a perfect job because people are still doing it really tough now, but I think he is a pragmatic leader, and he tries to work with all the other parties to get stuff through.

Matthew: Regardless of what you think morally about the Voice, I don’t think [Albanese] played his cards right on that one. I think the idea behind it was good, but the actual execution was not ideal.

What’s your opinion on minor parties and independents?

Maive: There’s some limitations to the effectiveness of minor parties, but I feel like there’s been quite a shift, especially with people I’m talking about with this upcoming election, towards the minor parties. Obviously, there’s been such a volatile duality with the Republicans and Democrats in America. It’s concerning me that we’re going to have something similar with Labor and Liberal.

WenYuan: Seeing all the independents and grassroots movement that have been very community-focused, very much prioritising the voices of their people – I think it’s pretty sweet.

Muskaanpreet: It’s worth voting for [minor parties and independents] because I think it shows the Labor Party and the Liberal Party that the policies they stand for do matter.

How do you feel about social media and influencers being used in political campaigning?

Maive: Some politicians do it quite well, but sometimes you’re like, “come on, this is a serious issue, can we stop treating it like it’s light-hearted?” We’re adults too. We understand what’s going on, and we should be treated like we understand what’s going on.

Georja: It’s like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. [Politicians] will try and dress up in our values and our priorities to get our vote, but it would be very important to also incorporate accurate information on those pages so people can start to understand more about what their policies are.

Muskaanpreet: I think using TikTok or using memes is a good way to reach a Gen Z audience. I think it shows that the political candidates care as well, so I think it’s useful, but I don’t think it looks very professional.

Matthew: I guess there’s a point to be made that it’s at least getting people to engage with it, but I don’t know if it’s getting them to engage in a constructive way. It’s more just downplaying the seriousness of some of the issues by using this kind of language.

How do you feel about the direction the country is heading?

Arseen: I feel like we’re heading towards a negative direction, to be honest, with all the cost of living, and the affordability and housing, it’s getting more and more stressful.

Viola: I do worry about how antisemitism is going to be handled, and how I am going to feel on university campuses or how am I going to feel walking down the streets.

Jonty: I feel a lot of people right now don’t feel things are great. I don’t think there’s any specific power that’s kind of putting that at ease right now. Everyone’s looking to just kind of stick through it, but overall, I still have hope.

Coby: A lot of the information that the younger generations are getting is off social media, from TikTok, from the quickest access point possible. They don’t want to actually deep-dive into the real situation of anything. I am right-leaning, and a lot of the younger population is leaning towards the left, and it’s just scary.

Angus: My main concern is the influence of Trump and Trumpism, which I feel has been putting a lot of people off the Liberal Party this election.

Mary Anne: In a way, yes and no, there are some changes that are happening in schools and universities, but I feel like it’s slow. You can’t make change in a day.

Kai: When it comes to things like the cost of healthcare and just the cost of living in general, it seems to be getting worse. It’s easy to feel pessimistic about it, like having GPs costing so much money. But I think I feel optimistic that as of recently, we’re seeing America and not wanting to go that way, and so it’s making us move in a bit of a better direction. At least, that’s what I hope.

Charlotte: I don’t think I’m pessimistic at all. I think minority government, especially if we’re returning to a Labor government, is probably quite good for young people.

Grace: I don’t feel particularly optimistic, but I do think that it is the role of young people to persevere and to make sure that we are in the room where decisions are being made so that we can shape that as best as we can.

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