Youth voters seek refuge in the Australian Greens

The 2007 and 2010 Australian federal elections saw a changing of the guard in youth voting trends. More than ever before, Australia's youth vote is playing a pivotal role in producing results in state and federal elections.

The capacity of youth to cut directly to the heart of issues and independently mobilise resources to achieve policy goals, has now been tested and verified at two federal elections.

'Kevin07' rode a youth wave to victory in 2007, and in 2010 the Greens, powered by issues-based policy and bolstered by protest votes, gained a valuable foothold in the Lower house, and now hold the balance of power in the Senate.

Political tacticians and campaign strategists continue to ignore this significant demographic at their own risk.

Youth voters are broadly limited as those between the ages of 18 and 25, although should perhaps be extended 16 to 30 years of age with regard to future voting trends.

Changes in technology have facilitated access to more information from a wider variety of sources. As the Internet makes access to information easier and connects interest groups with constituents regardless of physical distance, traditional parties are losing their stranglehold on the dissemination of political information.

Now more than ever before, young voters are questioning the information they're presented, and happy to call 'bullshit' when they find it.

In generations gone by, a likely indicator of how a young person would vote was how their parents voted. Party loyalty was somewhat hereditary. The current generations, colloquially known as Gen X and Y respectively, do not feel this same adherence to voting trends. In fact, they seem to be setting a new one.

Youth voters show none of the political apathy for which they are so often cited. Associate Professor Ariadne Vromen from the University of Sydney's Department of Government and International Relations wrote:

"Young people aren't necessarily looking to established political parties any more as a way to get involved. They are much more likely to be involved in issue-based and online organisations that encourage activism."

One would be hard pressed to deny that Australia's youth are issues based voters. Kevin Rudd's 2007 campaign was based on close-to-the-heart policies for young people: Climate change, immigration and the apology to the Stolen Generation. Polls in 2007 indicated a towering 52 per cent support for Kevin Rudd among youth voters.

In 2010, voter dissatisfaction with the two major parties was rife, and perhaps no more keenly felt than in young people. After all, it had been their support for key issues that had pushed a 5.44 per cent swing towards Labor in 2007.

But two years of policy failures and back-flips as well as unwanted leadership changes, had disenfranchised the youth vote. Unhappy with Labor and not entirely convinced by an Opposition leader they struggled to identify with, youth voters sought refuge in the Australian Greens.

The result was clear to see: A hung parliament with the first ever Greens member elected to the House of Representatives, and crucially, nine seats in the senate, allowing the Greens to hold the balance of power in the house of review.

No legislation will pass the current parliament without Greens approval and a vegetable-based ink stamp declaring it has been carbon offset.

The Greens now have a real chance to further both the issues they hold dear and the interests of the party. What remains to be seen is how their status as a major party - with well-earned polling numbers like theirs - might affect their policy outputs.

The Greens will need to strike a fine balance between policy activism and pragmatic politics. Holding up the system too much might be enough to bring about a double-dissolution trigger, and losing significantly from the senate seats they hold is more likely than winning another nine. But if they stray too far from their newly found youth base, then those voters might abandon the Greens at the next federal election.

Youth are acutely issues driven voters, and particularly issues of social policy: Climate change and immigration are perhaps the most public of these, but no less important are equality concerns like gay marriage, indigenous issues, and education.

Youth are essentially modern swing voters, but with a key difference. Whereas swing voters of previous generations broadly overlooked past policy mistakes, modern youth are benevolently vindictive. That is to say, they have shown a willingness to punish those in politics who do not represent their voice in parliament. Do well by youth and you will have their support. But discount their importance only at your own risk.

For political parties, there is a key lesson to be learnt, and one that could alter future elections. Strategists would do well to understand that the youth vote is not unimportant, and continued lurches to the right by both parties, in a misguided effort to appeal to their base, will only serve to push youth to seek representation elsewhere.

With youth making up almost 20 per cent of eligible electors in 2010, their support would more than swing future elections. If nothing else, winning the support of young voters guarantees a good showing to an astute candidate.

Youth see their vote as more than a Saturday chore. They see their ballot as a tool of democracy; a way to make their voice heard and express discontent with the traditional structure and established societal norms are increasingly unrepresentative of their growing role in public policy. A tool they are more than willing to use.