June 8, 2025 • 16 mins
At the recent election, a generational shift became undeniable.
Nearly half of all voters were Millennials or Gen Z – and their votes helped deliver Labor its biggest lower house majority ever, returned a sizable crossbench, and left the Coalition reeling.
But despite their decisive influence, young voters are still waiting for answers – especially on one issue they’ve placed at the heart of their demands: a government duty of care in the face of the climate crisis.
Today, climate activist Anjali Sharma, on whether Labor will govern for the young people who delivered them victory.
If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.
Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram
Guest: Climate activist Anjali Sharma
Photo: Supplied
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
From Schwartz Media. I'm Daniel James. This is seven AM.
At the recent election, a generational shift became undeniable. Nearly
half of all voters were millennials or gen Z and
their votes helped deliver Labor its biggest lower House majority ever,
(00:21):
returned a size of a cross bench and left the
coalition reeling. But despite their decisive influence, young voters are
still waiting for answers, especially on one issue they've placed
at the heart of their demands, a government duty of
care in the face of the climate crisis. Today, climate
activists Unduli Sharma on whether Labor were governed for the
(00:41):
young people who delivered them victory. It's Monday, June ninth.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well, young voters held a large amount of power in
this federal election. For the first time, Gen Z and
millennials outnumbered Baby boomers.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
So Labor has been given a huge majority at mandate.
And we've heard a lot about how that came off
the back of the youth vote at the most recent election.
How do you think young people viewed that election? What
did they think was at stake?
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Well, there was a lot at stake this election.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
We saw culture's rife during the election campaign, we saw
policies that just simply did not accord with what young
people are seeing before our eyes. What's reality for young people?
And I'm talking about nuclear I'm talking about uninspiring policies
on housing, on cost of living, really from both major parties,
(01:38):
and so I think what young people were really looking
for when we went to the ballot box was some
level of safety, some level of security, and the fact
that the government was delivered with such a historic majority,
I think is reflective of that.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Recognizing the change in demographics at the election, both major
parties chased young voters online.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Absolutely labeable white, twenty percent of everyone's student dead. By
the way, it's the first bit of legislation will introduce
if we're re elected on the third of May. Signing
up for UNIE shouldn't mean signing up for a lifetime
of debt.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
What did you make of those efforts?
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Yeah, it brings a smell to my face thinking about
some of the social media campaigning that we saw from
really all sides of politics. Peter, why should I care
about Peter Dutton wanting to gut Medicare.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Well, Brian, You're a dog, so it doesn't surprise me.
That you don't care you're not allowed in hospitals. But
when he was last health minister, he tried to end
universal healthcare by introducing gp CO payments.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
We now know that the words de lulu with no
sululu are in our parliamentary hand side. This really was
reflective of the fact that both major parties had done
their homework. They knew that it was young people who
were going to be a key factor in swaying this election,
and they wanted to meet us where we were. I
guess you can say that they did that. They met
us where we were in relation to their social media later,
(03:00):
in relation to how they tried to get our attention. Now,
the question for them is how they honor our votes
and how they take that forward, how they act on
that mandate that we delivered to them.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
You mentioned that during the campaign it was rife with
things like culture wars, which are basically, I guess, constructed
to divide the community and try and get a majority
of from one particular side on any particular issue. Do
you see the election out come as a rejection of
that type of politics, that politics of.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Division In a way, I think that people were sick
of hearing about whether our next prime minister was going
to stand in front of three flags or whether they
were going to stand in front of one. But also
at the same time, at the start of twenty twenty five,
the Liberal Party was in a competitive position and there
were polls showing that they could take majority government even
(03:58):
and that we knew that their views on indigenous rights,
their history of climate denial, and their wants to spook
and push nuclear Of course, it became more visible as
the election campaign took center stage in people's minds, but
(04:18):
they were shown at the start of the year that
culture wars had gotten them support because they were there
in front in the polls. So I wouldn't say it
was a complete rejection of cultural wars. Unfortunately, to some
extent they got ground with that, and you know that's
why parties like One Nation have seats in the Parliament
as of now. But I think that vote was reflective
(04:41):
of that desire for some sort of security, some sort
of stability, and the backflipping that we saw from the
Liberal Party, the up and downness of their election campaign
and their ability to offend almost every marginalized group in
the country was something to do with their vote.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
So We've been talking about the huge influence that Gen
Z millennials have had on what the new parliament looks like,
delivering what he's on paper, a progressive parliament. What confidence
do you have that what we'll see on paper will
translate to real world action.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Well, you're asking me this question after the government has
just approved the Northwest Shelf project, Woodside's carbon bomb essentially,
so you've caught me a time of not very much optimism.
I'll be honest. It's really, really, really disheartening that this
government's and this Environment Minister's first act is to greenlight
(05:37):
a project, a gas project out to twenty seventy in
clear contradiction of an immense amount of science, an immense
amount of business groups and organizations and unions backing a
call to keep all remaining fossil fuels in the grounds,
(05:58):
and the evidence that says that we need to do
that to make good on our Paris Agreement obligations to
deliver a safe and Liverpool future for young people. Woodside
is a carbon bomb and there was very good reason
to not let that project go ahead. But under Australia's
broken environmental laws that we've seen promises full reform continually
(06:19):
be kicked down the roads. That project was allowed to
go ahead despite this mandate, despite this historic youth vote.
Now that they've won our votes, they've retreated into that
shelter of complacency once again, and they're not too set
on figuring out how to honor.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Them coming up after the break a duty of care
to young people or to Woodside.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Now the federal government is being accused of setting off
a carbon bomb after.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Giving the green light to a forty year expansion of
that is biggest gas operation.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Angelie. You've point into the government's decision to green light
the extension of Woodside's a massive gas project, as a
major disappointment given the huge mandate labor now has. What
would you want to see them do with it?
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Well, one end of Australia right now is underwater and
the other end is going through devastating drought. It's clearer
than ever that climate change isn't a far off issue
anymore for Australians. It's one that's touching hearts around the world.
It's one that people are seeing not just through our
TV screens but through our windows. That mandate now is
(07:37):
a mandate. As I've said, for safety, for security. And
that doesn't mean acting on woodsides wishes and on the
wishes of Meg O'Neil. It means delivering ambitious climate and
environmental reform. That means Australia's broken environmental laws aren't able
(07:58):
to be used as a smoke screen to push through
extension after extension.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
That mean that we're.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Not able to tick a box and say yes, we've
done our part on climate change because our emissions that
we burned here in Australia are this much while actually
where one of the world's largest exporters of fossil fuels,
and where responsible for much much more emissions than we
(08:26):
actually count in our domestic targets.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Angelie, you were one of eight children who took the
Federal Environments to the court arguing the government has a
duty of care to protect young people from climate harm.
Where does the push for a legally recognized gi of
care stand right now?
Speaker 4 (08:43):
So I guess to answer that question, I'll start with
telling you why we believe that that should be legally recognized,
and that's because we know that young people will be
worst affected by climate change. We know that climate disaster
is increasing in frequency and severity, and that it's our
generations that we'll have to bear the brunt of that.
That's what we argued, as you said, before the courts
(09:04):
in twenty twenty again in twenty twenty one on appeal,
and unfortunately that ruling was overturned after being successful initially.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
The Federal Court today may have accepted the minister's legal
arguments over ours, but that does not change the minister's
legal obligation moral obligation sorry to take action on climate
change and to protect young people from the harms that
it will bring.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
So it no longer exists right now in common law
before the courts. However, we continued that campaign after that ruling,
and what we've done is we've worked with Independence and
in a David pocock I move.
Speaker 6 (09:39):
That the following bill be introduced, a Bill for an
Act to Amend the Climate Change Act twenty twenty two,
to put.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Forward a bill to the Federal Parliament that seeks to
establish that duty of care.
Speaker 6 (09:50):
Bill obviously would legislate a duty of care where the Environmentister,
the relevant decision maker would have to consider the impact
of fossil fuel projects.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
On young people.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Right now, that bill is still before the Parliament and
hasn't been voted on the Government has indicated that they
don't support it as of.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Now, but our work continues in that area.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So what kind of support does it have in and
out of Parliament?
Speaker 3 (10:13):
It has lots of support in the Parliament.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
We had a lobbying day where we went around to
around fifty MPs and we asked them for support in
writing for a duty of care. That day we got
support from around thirty members of Parliament and eleven of
them were from within the government, including assistant ministers too.
We have support from businesses and unions. We released an
(10:35):
open letter calling for this study of care that was
signed by five former Australians.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Of the Year.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
A Nobel Laureate Australia is the most decorated Olympian Emma
McKeon organizations young people have written to the Parliament asking
for the.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Study of care.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
We have thousands of signatures on our petition. It's a
principle that, as far as I've tried to communicate it
to people, is very well received.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Your campaign has led to a bill being put forward
by Senator David Pocock. You mentioned that Labor isn't going
to support that bill. Have you spoken to anyone within
the government about that bill.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Yeah, so we have quite regular, ongoing and productive conversations
with many people within the Parliament. We have a really
strong coalition of backbenches within the government who support this
bill and to have been from the outset some of
our really really strong supporters for a duty of care. Unfortunately, though,
what we see is factional politics is caucus politics.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
That mean that it's actually.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Not those backbenchers who get to say despite what their
communities might be calling for, and it means that really
really good policy proposals like this one don't just get rejected,
they get rejected without any possibility of compromise or negotiation.
That doesn't mean that we've stopped calling for a duty
(12:01):
of care.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Our campaign will continue in this term of.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Parliament to and now what we're calling for the government
now is that if you don't like this private members
bill that's before you.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Then do it your own way.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
Put in a duty of care however you would like
draft in your own terms, but work with us and
work with young people on actually doing that, rather than
saying our current environmental.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Laws a fit for purpose. We've got X, Y and Z,
because clearly they're not.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
If you're approving Northwest shelf out till twenty seventy, then
there's something lacking in our environmental laws. We've got this
proposal here to plug that gap, but we need you
to come to the table as well.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
I want to fast forward to the twenty twenty eight election,
will be at the tail end of a decade that
signed to say is critical when it comes to climate change.
We spoke about how young voters were instrumental in Albanesi's victory.
What's the risk if young voters and their priorities are ignored.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Well, what we saw this election actually, as young people do,
skew progressive and that doesn't just mean delivering a labor government.
It means significant first preferences for Greens and for climate independence.
In some of the youngest electorates in the country. We
saw significant swings towards the Greens. We saw previously safe
(13:19):
seats turned marginal because of Green's challenges or because of
climate independence challenging the sitting and incumbent MPs. It's a
clear indication of what's to come in twenty twenty eight.
If we believe that that mandate that we handed the
government hasn't been on it and hasn't been taken forward.
It's something that we know that we'll continue to see.
(13:41):
It started in the twenty twenty two election, that green slide,
that swing towards climate independence. It continued this election and
it's only going to grow.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
We know that one of the.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
Biggest reasons that the government and parliaments haven't put forward
decisive policies on young peoples because up until now they
haven't really had to consider them as a key demographic
and lead up to election. The more that that happens,
as we saw in this election, the more we will
see policies targeted towards young people.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Who've just seen.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Australia's youngest senator ever elected, and I hope that she
does as she said, become a voice for those who
share her perspective and those who know what it's like
to be twenty one right now, staring down the barrel
at a world that could be marked by climate disaster
increasing in frequency and severity, and compounding with the crisis
(14:35):
of inequality of frog, insecurity of water, insecurity of housing, insecurity.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
This movement is not just.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
One that we see every three years at the ballot box.
It's one that we're seeing continuously through different avenues that
are being used for change.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Andelie, thank you so much for taking the time to
speak with us.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Before we go, I wanted to tell you about some
of the reporting. In the latest edition of the Saturday Paper.
Barrister Adrian Bow writes about the recent death of a
young Aboriginal man while under the restraint of two plain
clothed police officers and Alice Springs in Bartway. He draws
parallels between the death and the twenty nineteen shooting of
Cumen Joe Walker and the systemic problems that these killings reveal,
(15:42):
and award winning writer Richard Flanagan reports in the crisis
within the Tasmanian Liberal Party over plans to build a
stadium that would bankrupt the state. You can find these
stories and many more at the Saturday Paper dot com
dot au. I'm Daniel James. This is seven am. Thanks
for stay
From Schwartz Media. I'm Daniel James. This is seven AM.
At the recent election, a generational shift became undeniable. Nearly
half of all voters were millennials or gen Z and
their votes helped deliver Labor its biggest lower House majority ever,
(00:21):
returned a size of a cross bench and left the
coalition reeling. But despite their decisive influence, young voters are
still waiting for answers, especially on one issue they've placed
at the heart of their demands, a government duty of
care in the face of the climate crisis. Today, climate
activists Unduli Sharma on whether Labor were governed for the
(00:41):
young people who delivered them victory. It's Monday, June ninth.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well, young voters held a large amount of power in
this federal election. For the first time, Gen Z and
millennials outnumbered Baby boomers.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
So Labor has been given a huge majority at mandate.
And we've heard a lot about how that came off
the back of the youth vote at the most recent election.
How do you think young people viewed that election? What
did they think was at stake?
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Well, there was a lot at stake this election.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
We saw culture's rife during the election campaign, we saw
policies that just simply did not accord with what young
people are seeing before our eyes. What's reality for young people?
And I'm talking about nuclear I'm talking about uninspiring policies
on housing, on cost of living, really from both major parties,
(01:38):
and so I think what young people were really looking
for when we went to the ballot box was some
level of safety, some level of security, and the fact
that the government was delivered with such a historic majority,
I think is reflective of that.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Recognizing the change in demographics at the election, both major
parties chased young voters online.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Absolutely labeable white, twenty percent of everyone's student dead. By
the way, it's the first bit of legislation will introduce
if we're re elected on the third of May. Signing
up for UNIE shouldn't mean signing up for a lifetime
of debt.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
What did you make of those efforts?
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Yeah, it brings a smell to my face thinking about
some of the social media campaigning that we saw from
really all sides of politics. Peter, why should I care
about Peter Dutton wanting to gut Medicare.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Well, Brian, You're a dog, so it doesn't surprise me.
That you don't care you're not allowed in hospitals. But
when he was last health minister, he tried to end
universal healthcare by introducing gp CO payments.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
We now know that the words de lulu with no
sululu are in our parliamentary hand side. This really was
reflective of the fact that both major parties had done
their homework. They knew that it was young people who
were going to be a key factor in swaying this election,
and they wanted to meet us where we were. I
guess you can say that they did that. They met
us where we were in relation to their social media later,
(03:00):
in relation to how they tried to get our attention. Now,
the question for them is how they honor our votes
and how they take that forward, how they act on
that mandate that we delivered to them.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
You mentioned that during the campaign it was rife with
things like culture wars, which are basically, I guess, constructed
to divide the community and try and get a majority
of from one particular side on any particular issue. Do
you see the election out come as a rejection of
that type of politics, that politics of.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Division In a way, I think that people were sick
of hearing about whether our next prime minister was going
to stand in front of three flags or whether they
were going to stand in front of one. But also
at the same time, at the start of twenty twenty five,
the Liberal Party was in a competitive position and there
were polls showing that they could take majority government even
(03:58):
and that we knew that their views on indigenous rights,
their history of climate denial, and their wants to spook
and push nuclear Of course, it became more visible as
the election campaign took center stage in people's minds, but
(04:18):
they were shown at the start of the year that
culture wars had gotten them support because they were there
in front in the polls. So I wouldn't say it
was a complete rejection of cultural wars. Unfortunately, to some
extent they got ground with that, and you know that's
why parties like One Nation have seats in the Parliament
as of now. But I think that vote was reflective
(04:41):
of that desire for some sort of security, some sort
of stability, and the backflipping that we saw from the
Liberal Party, the up and downness of their election campaign
and their ability to offend almost every marginalized group in
the country was something to do with their vote.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
So We've been talking about the huge influence that Gen
Z millennials have had on what the new parliament looks like,
delivering what he's on paper, a progressive parliament. What confidence
do you have that what we'll see on paper will
translate to real world action.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Well, you're asking me this question after the government has
just approved the Northwest Shelf project, Woodside's carbon bomb essentially,
so you've caught me a time of not very much optimism.
I'll be honest. It's really, really, really disheartening that this
government's and this Environment Minister's first act is to greenlight
(05:37):
a project, a gas project out to twenty seventy in
clear contradiction of an immense amount of science, an immense
amount of business groups and organizations and unions backing a
call to keep all remaining fossil fuels in the grounds,
(05:58):
and the evidence that says that we need to do
that to make good on our Paris Agreement obligations to
deliver a safe and Liverpool future for young people. Woodside
is a carbon bomb and there was very good reason
to not let that project go ahead. But under Australia's
broken environmental laws that we've seen promises full reform continually
(06:19):
be kicked down the roads. That project was allowed to
go ahead despite this mandate, despite this historic youth vote.
Now that they've won our votes, they've retreated into that
shelter of complacency once again, and they're not too set
on figuring out how to honor.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Them coming up after the break a duty of care
to young people or to Woodside.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Now the federal government is being accused of setting off
a carbon bomb after.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Giving the green light to a forty year expansion of
that is biggest gas operation.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Angelie. You've point into the government's decision to green light
the extension of Woodside's a massive gas project, as a
major disappointment given the huge mandate labor now has. What
would you want to see them do with it?
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Well, one end of Australia right now is underwater and
the other end is going through devastating drought. It's clearer
than ever that climate change isn't a far off issue
anymore for Australians. It's one that's touching hearts around the world.
It's one that people are seeing not just through our
TV screens but through our windows. That mandate now is
(07:37):
a mandate. As I've said, for safety, for security. And
that doesn't mean acting on woodsides wishes and on the
wishes of Meg O'Neil. It means delivering ambitious climate and
environmental reform. That means Australia's broken environmental laws aren't able
(07:58):
to be used as a smoke screen to push through
extension after extension.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
That mean that we're.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Not able to tick a box and say yes, we've
done our part on climate change because our emissions that
we burned here in Australia are this much while actually
where one of the world's largest exporters of fossil fuels,
and where responsible for much much more emissions than we
(08:26):
actually count in our domestic targets.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Angelie, you were one of eight children who took the
Federal Environments to the court arguing the government has a
duty of care to protect young people from climate harm.
Where does the push for a legally recognized gi of
care stand right now?
Speaker 4 (08:43):
So I guess to answer that question, I'll start with
telling you why we believe that that should be legally recognized,
and that's because we know that young people will be
worst affected by climate change. We know that climate disaster
is increasing in frequency and severity, and that it's our
generations that we'll have to bear the brunt of that.
That's what we argued, as you said, before the courts
(09:04):
in twenty twenty again in twenty twenty one on appeal,
and unfortunately that ruling was overturned after being successful initially.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
The Federal Court today may have accepted the minister's legal
arguments over ours, but that does not change the minister's
legal obligation moral obligation sorry to take action on climate
change and to protect young people from the harms that
it will bring.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
So it no longer exists right now in common law
before the courts. However, we continued that campaign after that ruling,
and what we've done is we've worked with Independence and
in a David pocock I move.
Speaker 6 (09:39):
That the following bill be introduced, a Bill for an
Act to Amend the Climate Change Act twenty twenty two,
to put.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Forward a bill to the Federal Parliament that seeks to
establish that duty of care.
Speaker 6 (09:50):
Bill obviously would legislate a duty of care where the Environmentister,
the relevant decision maker would have to consider the impact
of fossil fuel projects.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
On young people.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Right now, that bill is still before the Parliament and
hasn't been voted on the Government has indicated that they
don't support it as of.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Now, but our work continues in that area.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So what kind of support does it have in and
out of Parliament?
Speaker 3 (10:13):
It has lots of support in the Parliament.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
We had a lobbying day where we went around to
around fifty MPs and we asked them for support in
writing for a duty of care. That day we got
support from around thirty members of Parliament and eleven of
them were from within the government, including assistant ministers too.
We have support from businesses and unions. We released an
(10:35):
open letter calling for this study of care that was
signed by five former Australians.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Of the Year.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
A Nobel Laureate Australia is the most decorated Olympian Emma
McKeon organizations young people have written to the Parliament asking
for the.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Study of care.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
We have thousands of signatures on our petition. It's a
principle that, as far as I've tried to communicate it
to people, is very well received.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Your campaign has led to a bill being put forward
by Senator David Pocock. You mentioned that Labor isn't going
to support that bill. Have you spoken to anyone within
the government about that bill.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Yeah, so we have quite regular, ongoing and productive conversations
with many people within the Parliament. We have a really
strong coalition of backbenches within the government who support this
bill and to have been from the outset some of
our really really strong supporters for a duty of care. Unfortunately, though,
what we see is factional politics is caucus politics.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
That mean that it's actually.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Not those backbenchers who get to say despite what their
communities might be calling for, and it means that really
really good policy proposals like this one don't just get rejected,
they get rejected without any possibility of compromise or negotiation.
That doesn't mean that we've stopped calling for a duty
(12:01):
of care.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Our campaign will continue in this term of.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Parliament to and now what we're calling for the government
now is that if you don't like this private members
bill that's before you.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Then do it your own way.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
Put in a duty of care however you would like
draft in your own terms, but work with us and
work with young people on actually doing that, rather than
saying our current environmental.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Laws a fit for purpose. We've got X, Y and Z,
because clearly they're not.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
If you're approving Northwest shelf out till twenty seventy, then
there's something lacking in our environmental laws. We've got this
proposal here to plug that gap, but we need you
to come to the table as well.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
I want to fast forward to the twenty twenty eight election,
will be at the tail end of a decade that
signed to say is critical when it comes to climate change.
We spoke about how young voters were instrumental in Albanesi's victory.
What's the risk if young voters and their priorities are ignored.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Well, what we saw this election actually, as young people do,
skew progressive and that doesn't just mean delivering a labor government.
It means significant first preferences for Greens and for climate independence.
In some of the youngest electorates in the country. We
saw significant swings towards the Greens. We saw previously safe
(13:19):
seats turned marginal because of Green's challenges or because of
climate independence challenging the sitting and incumbent MPs. It's a
clear indication of what's to come in twenty twenty eight.
If we believe that that mandate that we handed the
government hasn't been on it and hasn't been taken forward.
It's something that we know that we'll continue to see.
(13:41):
It started in the twenty twenty two election, that green slide,
that swing towards climate independence. It continued this election and
it's only going to grow.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
We know that one of the.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
Biggest reasons that the government and parliaments haven't put forward
decisive policies on young peoples because up until now they
haven't really had to consider them as a key demographic
and lead up to election. The more that that happens,
as we saw in this election, the more we will
see policies targeted towards young people.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Who've just seen.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Australia's youngest senator ever elected, and I hope that she
does as she said, become a voice for those who
share her perspective and those who know what it's like
to be twenty one right now, staring down the barrel
at a world that could be marked by climate disaster
increasing in frequency and severity, and compounding with the crisis
(14:35):
of inequality of frog, insecurity of water, insecurity of housing, insecurity.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
This movement is not just.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
One that we see every three years at the ballot box.
It's one that we're seeing continuously through different avenues that
are being used for change.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Andelie, thank you so much for taking the time to
speak with us.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Before we go, I wanted to tell you about some
of the reporting. In the latest edition of the Saturday Paper.
Barrister Adrian Bow writes about the recent death of a
young Aboriginal man while under the restraint of two plain
clothed police officers and Alice Springs in Bartway. He draws
parallels between the death and the twenty nineteen shooting of
Cumen Joe Walker and the systemic problems that these killings reveal,
(15:42):
and award winning writer Richard Flanagan reports in the crisis
within the Tasmanian Liberal Party over plans to build a
stadium that would bankrupt the state. You can find these
stories and many more at the Saturday Paper dot com
dot au. I'm Daniel James. This is seven am. Thanks
for stay
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