PAUL1405...

And I'd have no problem at all, with your young grand-daughter being able to vote - Just as long as it's not you, PAUL1405. Our Parliament is already overflowing with those noisy elements of the far left, a horde to whom you belong, and who're set upon, trying to destroy the few values we still have remaining in this forsaken nation of ours. Perhaps you could try NZ, the home of 'toothy' Jacinta ARDERN, I'm sure she'd welcome someone with your impeccable qualities. You know, intrepidity, courage and pluck.

Age is no indication of wisdom and maturity.

The right to vote ought to be determined by a test, to prove that the person understands the full implications of their vote and can do so responsibly and independently.

The test should include both intellectual and emotional components, must not be politically biased and its difficulty level should be around high-school year 12, but if a three-year-old is able to pass it, then why not?

One more point: since a child's vote could potentially adversely affect their parents, once a child (of any age) has proven their maturity and votes, his/her parents are no longer obliged to keep him/her at their home and take care of him/her.

Hi ttbn,

You make a good point about cognitive development and voting, having sex, paying taxes, having babies and doing military service. Therefore should we not also consider disenfranchising those suffering from cognitive degeneration, those old farts who can't get it up, pay no tax, babies sit only on their knee, and the army don't want them. Should voting be limited to 16 to 79?

Dear o sung wu,

Personally I'm not in favour of lowering the voting age to 16, nor is my granddaughter. She believes many of her friends are not interested in politics to any great extent and are not clamouring to vote, so why the bother.

If the parliament is; "overflowing with those noisy elements of the far left" which seems to be egregious to you then it is for no other reason than they have been democratically elected. Our democratic process seems to be at odds with your belief that voting should be limited to those who would vote in favour of those acceptable to you, thus no vote for me. That's not democracy, I have no problem with the likes of Pauline Hanson sitting in the parliament, I may disagree with much of what she says and believes, but she got the votes, and so be it. If you don't like the far left, then why not get out there and beat the drum for the far right, or those you support.

BTW; My granddaughter told me if she had voted in the last Federal election it would have been for Labor.

Left whingers like the village idiot don't give a crap about the rights of minors under 18, they only reason is that they believe that they can be manipulated into voting Labor or greens.

Neuroscience is clear that an individual's ability to evaluate risk and reward is not complete until about 25 years old, and the age of majority was originally 21 years old. This was dropped to 18 only when boys of 18 were being sent to fight and die at war, yet were neither able to vote nor drink and this was then defined as the age of majority.

Anyone under 18 is not considered sufficiently mature enough to get married without permission, sign a contract etc. So why are they sufficiently mature to vote?

If the ability to reason isn't the main factor how low can we go? People can have babies at 12 or even 13 should they vote. Or is a fetal heart beat sufficient?

Wrong again Shonky,

"This was dropped to 18 only when boys of 18 were being sent to fight and die at war, yet were neither able to vote nor drink and this was then defined as the age of majority."

Conscription was at the age of 20, the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 by the Whitlam government's amendment to the Commonwealth Electoral Act in 1973, 18 year olds voted for the first time in a Federal election in 1975. Conscription was abolished by Whitlam in December 1972. The Tories were sending conscripts to die in Vietnam, but steadfastly refused them the vote.

As I said above, "It is only the Leftists who want it, because they know kids are still stupid enough to fall for the Marxist advertising". Shadowminiser has seconded that, as has a poll in South Australia that gave the idea a big thumbs down.