Army Colonel Calls for Voting Age to Be Raised to 25 to Ensure ‘Considered’ Choices

Former Australian soldier Kevin Loughrey, who ran as a candidate in the recent election, says it’s time to consider big reforms to the electoral system.

Loughrey, who served as lieutenant colonel and was in the Australian Army for 32 years, suggests the voting age be raised from 18 to 25.

“Even when people matured a whole lot earlier—you could get married at 16—the framers of our Constitution and our government thought that 21 was the age that a person would be sensible enough to make a good decision as to who should run the country,” Loughrey told The Epoch Times.

“We want to create an electoral system where the outcome of an election is decided by electors who are fully informed, and who are casting a considered vote.

“Similarly, that same electoral system would aim to nullify the effect on an election’s outcome of those people who just turn up on the day in order to avoid a fine, or they’re totally apathetic and complacent.

“That’s very important and we believe such a system, if it were achievable, would result in higher quality parliamentarians.”

Loughrey also says pre-polling period increased the cost of campaigning.

“The other thing about the pre-poll is that normal people [in the smaller parties] can’t afford to be hanging around a polling place for two weeks on end handing out how-to-vote leaflets,” he said.

In 1973, under the Gough Whitlam Labor government the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 via the Commonwealth Electoral Bill.

There are ongoing arguments from the left of politics for the age to be lowered to 16, with the United Kingdom the most recent country to do so. Scotland and Wales already allow 16-year-olds to vote, along with Brazil and Austria.

“This will mean young people, who already contribute to society by working, paying taxes and serving in the military, will be given the right to vote on the issues that affect them,” said Labour Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, in a statement on Thursday.

A lower voting age would theoretically be advantageous to the left side of politics given their appeal to younger voters, who have shown a tendency to align with progressive and socialist views.

The Albanese Labor government has shot down any similar proposal locally.

“We are not open to it at the moment, it is not our policy. It’s not our policy to lower the voting age,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on July 18.

“I think a lot of nations would be looking up what the United Kingdom is exploring doing and see how it does.”

Loughrey set up the Australians For Better Government as an initiative aimed at improving federal politics. He is a current Libertarian Party member and recently ran in the seat of Richmond in northern New South Wales.