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10 AUGUSTGreens will protect Coral Sea The Australian Greens today announced a new plan to protect the CoralSea environment from oil and gas extraction, unsustainable fishing andpollution. Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said a new Coral Sea Marine Reservewould protect one of Australia’s most magnificent marine areas. “The Coral Sea is home to many endangered Continue Reading →
In less than two weeks time, while the majority of Australians flock to the polls and cast their ballots, young people across the country will sit in silence, stripped of their democratic rights by our cumbersome and anachronistic electoral system.
First-time voters Amjad Saleh and Mohamed Saleh enrol to vote. Would have been nice to do it over the internet though. Pic: Jeremy Piper
Last Friday, the High Court overturned the Howard government’s 2006 changes to the Electoral Act. The amendments had resulted in the electoral roll being closed a matter of hours after the writs were issued.
In an action brought by political advocacy group GetUp!, the court held these changes to be unconstitutional, thereby restoring the original seven day grace period in which individuals may place themselves on the roll.
As a consequence, an estimated 100,000 additional Australians, predominately youth, are now able to take part in this year’s election.
Although this decision represents immense progress, systemic limitations in our electoral system still persist. In particular, the lack of an automatic enrolment mechanism causes widespread and ongoing disenfranchisement among Australia’s youth.
Recent statistics from the Australian Electoral Commission reveal an alarmingly high proportion of eligible young people are absent from the electoral roll. At the beginning of July, over half a million people aged between 18-24 had not enrolled to vote, including one in two 18 year olds and one in three 19 year olds. Similar levels of disengagement were recorded during the 2007 election.
It would be easy to dismiss these figures as evidence that Australian youth are simply lazy and apathetic. Young people, however, vehemently deny this claim. Instead, they point to the high burden of the current enrolment process, which involves completing and signing a physical enrolment form and sending it to the AEC, as well as advising the commission of any changes in address.
This requirement of material postage constitutes a barrier to the political participation of today’s youth – a generation which has grown up relying on new technologies such as mobile phones and the internet. Similarly, the obligation to inform the AEC of residential movements weighs heavily upon young people, many of whom move states following secondary school, leave the family home for the first time, or shift between rental accommodations.
Furthermore, given Australia’s status as the only English-speaking country in the world with enforced compulsory voting, many young people assume they are automatically placed on the electoral roll when they turn 18. The lack of adequate education concerning the enrolment process serves to perpetuate such misunderstandings.
Election ‘neglecting’ issues for rural women By Chrissy Arthur Posted 1 hour 3 minutes ago Map: Charleville 4470 The National Rural Women’s Coalition (NRWC) says the needs of rural communities have been overlooked during the federal election campaign. The Coalition says almost one-third of women live in rural areas and they should not be considered Continue Reading →
Dear NEVILLE,
In the past few days GetUp members have helped secure the right to vote for 100,000 Australians in this election, and hundreds of thousands more in elections to come. You have also helped to safeguard the internet from government censorship for over 20 million Australians (that’s all of us!).
But as if these two things weren’t enough, GetUp members are now funding a powerful ad that is making Australians stop and examine Tony Abbott’s ultra conservative views on key issues in these last crucial weeks of the election.
And rarely in GetUp’s history has there been a reaction like this to a campaign: $125,000 raised in less than 24 hours–the most raised in one day in GetUp’s history. It’s now over $185,000 just a few days later. Simply extraordinary. Have you seen the ad that’s igniting the GetUp membership?
9th August 2010 GREENS OFFER SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR STUDENT INCOME SUPPORT The Australian Greens are committed to providing access to income support for students in regional areas, according to Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Senator Hanson-Young, Greens spokesperson on Education, says the current compromise scheme which passed through Federal Parliament earlier this year was far Continue Reading →
