Shorten’s plan to lower the voting age could help increase political engagement

Speaking at a NSW Young Labor conference over the weekend, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten called for Australia’s voting age to be lowered to 16. In a bid to “tackle the apathy and cynicism of young people towards politics”, Shorten said politicians must find ways to re-engage a generation of citizens who no longer seem interested in government affairs. Though Liberal MPs were quick to dismiss Shorten’s announcement as a political gimmick to help Labor win votes, recent research shows that lowering the voting age to 16 can positively boost voter turnout.