Lucinda Holdforth

So changes to those policies...

And changes to some of the other big subsidies to the wealthy would then leave more money available both to look after the needs of older Australians, but to invest in our young.

We've sort of left them floundering for quite a long time.

And I think we need as a country to say, how can we do this?

And I'm not an expert in any of this, but I think it would be great if we had more of a conversation about supporting young Australians.

One thing I've seen is reports that young people are very disillusioned and have lost a little bit of hope.

So one option might be to lower the voting age to 16.

And the reason I think that's a good thing to do is because I think it would be a very clear signal to young Australians from the whole community saying, we want your voice.

We need to hear from you and you can make a difference.

And I think ideally that would be allied to good civics training.

But, you know, I think we've come to the point where I think young Australians are sometimes not even enrolling to vote, not voting, don't feel that there's anything in it for them.

What a tragedy that is.

So we really have to make some great efforts to reintegrate young Australians into the feeling that...

Government matters and who you elect matters and that they can influence outcomes.

And I've also speculated that it might even be that we say people in aged care homes don't need to vote and maybe we say if you're over 74 or 75 or 80 and you don't want to vote, we'd make that optional.

Not to punish anyone, but as a sort of... Well, as a practical gesture, because with the rising dementia, that's an issue...

But also, again, to say, let's hand over a little bit to younger Australians.

It is and I think that's why I wanted to start this conversation because I think one of the great things about this country is we have thought about each other and we do think about each other and we do think about fairness and I don't see... I see great potential in us having this conversation and there might be better ideas out there but...

I would like to signal to young Australians, get involved.

And if you do, you can make a difference.