Youth MPs across political parties have come out in support of Make it 16. More than half of the 120 Youth MPs have signed onto an open letter calling for Parliament to lower the voting age for both local and general elections.
Youth MP and Make it 16 Co-Director Cate Tipler (they/them) spoke in Parliament, “Youth Parliament is proof that the decisions being made by politicians today will impact young people the most. ”
“Our parliament has told us they recognise we care about our communities. They’ve told us we can give speeches on the importance of voting. They’ve told us we’re more than capable of discussing and debating complex issues, and our MPs have told us we should support their party policy.”
“The only thing not real about Youth Parliament is that many of us will not have the right to vote in this year’s local election, or even next year’s general election.”
“Youth Parliament’s debate on the youth wage highlighted the barriers young workers face, and emphasised the importance of giving more rangatahi a voice in parliament by extending the voting age to 16 and 17-year-olds.” says Youth MP and Make It 16 member Ethan Rogacion (he/him)
“The starting-out wage is just one of many ways that successive governments have ignored the real needs of young people, and demonstrates the importance of having voices representing young New Zealanders in this House. 16 and 17 year-olds should have a say on whether they can be paid a lower minimum wage than everyone else.” says Ethan.
Lowering the voting age was supported in speeches across the house including by Youth MPs Layba Zubair, Joel Holdsworth, and Willow Heron.
The gratuitous use of gender pronouns in this article is a strong argument AGAINST lowering the voting age. I see one of these enlightened youth spokespersons is a “Them/They”. I wonder what life in plural is like – I guess you’d never be lonely.
yeaaaa harry stiles for PM or whoever the current tik tok star happens to be, it’s not just giving the vote to nice educated middle class children, those you don’t approve of will get a vote too..
the left refuses to learn just because you give lollies to interest groups it doesn’t mean they will vote for you, gratitude for bribes soon wears off.
The sort of awful children who sign up for this nonsense are the kind of awful children who would aspire to be MPs at 18 (or 16).
What did they have to say about proper civics education so that young adults know:
* NEVER TALK TO THE POLICE
* never admit responsibility in expensive civil matters
* never take on debt without considering the future implications
?
if the kid did not have ‘he / him’ pronouns would he forget that he was born a penis haver?
Yes to Make it 16 if you are a tax payer (working), and no vote if you receive a pension. With our aging population, the voter base needs balancing. Jmo
It’s Youthist. All Walk out!