Australia's young voters set aside disillusionment to keep out right-wing

By Cordelia Hsu and Christine Chen

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian university student Jessica Louise Smith says she will cast her vote in Saturday's general election with only one objective: avoiding the "worst possible" outcome of a right-wing government.

The 19-year-old said the prospect of conservative opposition leader Peter Dutton winning power was "very frightening", after seeing the disruption caused by Donald Trump in the United States.

"I feel like, not as focused on the genuine politics in Australia as I am simply avoiding the worst possible option," she said.

Smith will vote in an election on May 3 alongside millions of Millennials and Generation Z voters who make up 43% of 18 million people enrolled under Australia's mandatory voting system, outnumbering the powerful Baby Boomer bloc.

The demographic shift has prompted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labor Party and the conservative Liberal-National coalition to use social media, podcasts and memes to announce policies helping with housing and student debt.

But young voters, who have grown up during a global pandemic, economic disruption and the climate crisis, told Reuters they were disillusioned and dissatisfied with both major parties' inaction on issues that affected them.

Darcy Palmer, 18, said a lot of people his age felt compelled to vote for Labor "just so Dutton doesn't come in", despite Australia having preferential voting that allows voters to rank their choices.

Among Millennials and Gen Z voters, Labor holds a lead of 60% over the conservative Liberal Party, according to recent polling from political consultancy Redbridge Group.

But this demographic also accounts for the largest share of voters "giving their first preferences to minor parties and independents", Redbridge director Kos Samaras said in an op-ed in the Financial Review.

Architecture student Jasmine Al-Rawi, who recently gained citizenship after relocating from New Zealand, would like to see more done on climate change and cost-of-living pressures.

"Both major parties have been ruling for the rich, I think the Labor Party have done nothing for ordinary people since they've been elected," the 22-year-old said.

"I think Peter Dutton would be worse but I think there's no positive case for the Labor Party either."

The trend of the two major parties losing support among young voters has accelerated in recent years, according to the Australian Election Study (AES).

During Australia's last election in 2022, 26% of Gen Z and 18% of Millennials voted for the environment-focused Greens party. Support for the major parties and especially the conservative coalition fell to the lowest point in the study's 35-year history.

Ava Cavalerie Johnson, 18, said she was hopeful the youth vote could shift Australia’s parliament further to the left but cautioned against generalising her cohort.

"There are still a lot of conservative beliefs in politics. I think there will be a bigger shift to the left, but I don't think there'll be a full shift,” she said.

(Reporting by Cordelia Hsu and Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Saad Sayeed)

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