One factor no one has mentioned because it is politically incorrect is
that the school leavers leave with the teacher's brain washing.
Note how the children are reacting to anything that teachers oppose.
When they leave school they start to pick up contrary information in
the real world that they inhabit. One problem is that at university
they will no longer be exposed to the contrary information due to the
current left wing enforced opinion.
It seems that everything not left has very little support.
The school leavers may adversely affect an otherwise decision which
gives weight to return the voting age to 21.
A bit unfair to 18 year old soldiers.

A bit unfair to 18 year old soldiers.
Bazz,
Simple, have soldiers in actual action younger than 21 exempt ! Equally simple would be not to send soldiers under 21 into battle !

Well, we had this during the Vietnam War, when the warmongers in the Coalition government, were conscripting 20 year old boys to be cannon fodder in Vietnam, but not allowing them to have a vote, because they were not 21.

Military conscription should never be allowed!

Belly,

It is well known in neuroscience and by insurers that the human brain's decision making capability is not fully mature until about 25, which is why car insurance is prohibitive before this and why voting was originally restricted to over 21.

The dropping of the voting age to 18 was based on the legal system allocating full responsibility and emancipation to person's over 18 for practical purposes (incl enlisting in the army)

That persons under 18 are treated as minors and not fully responsible for their actions should be a wake up call for those calling to lower the voting age.

yuyutsu I had just came to the conclusion I could understand you
Even admired what I thought was a stream of caring for humanity coming from you
But gee you lost me here, mate are you telling me only one side of politics is human?
That us centerists [lefty's for the lessor informed] are always wrong
SHADOW MINISTER we have crossed swords for a decade,maybe more,we will never agree
But after the election, if permitted, I intend to start a thread, about how both sides, have, often,stolen the others policies
Further, putting the view, both sides will do this very much faster as both seek a new middle ground , a place voters are already in, waiting for us to catch up
And maybe your first step in understanding that is knowing kids, even if only 16, often know more than us old foggy's

Belly,

" ..... kids, even if only 16, often know more than us old fogey's."

From distant memory, I THOUGHT I knew more than old people when I was sixteen. But like most people, I had learnt a bit more by the time I was thirty; and more again by forty; and so on.

Anyway, suggestions on this thread range from dropping the voting age to 16, raising it to 25, and eating old people. I'm not sure yet how relevant that last suggestion is, but one must point out that young people would probably be much better eating, unless you like eating old boots. Oops, Belly, you and me wouldn't be eaters, we'd both be eatees: so that would be a bit like cannibalism.

As a centrist, I would respectfully suggest that the discussion range across the 18-21 age-groups. Personally, I would prefer kicking the age back up to 21 when young people have been out of kindergarten that little bit longer. So I suppose I'm a right-leaning centrist on this issue :)

Cheers,

Joe