This week, the annual Youth Parliament returned to Wellington, and with it came a renewed push to lower the voting age to 16. It’s no surprise this idea is being floated again, and it's almost guaranteed that Labour and the Greens will back it. Why wouldn’t they? Sixteen-year-olds are still firmly under the influence of New Zealand’s highly politicised schooling system, where left-wing ideology is not only common but embedded into everyday teaching and forced down our kids throats.
At that age, kids' brains are like sponges. They soak up whatever they’re told, whether it’s factually correct, blatantly wrong, or simply the personal opinions of their ideologically driven teachers. There’s no counterbalance, no room for genuine debate. The classroom has become an echo chamber for progressive talking points.
Let me be honest, at 16, I wasn’t remotely interested in politics - I was too busy chasing girls, playing rugby on the weekends, and knocking back 440ml cans of 8% Woodstocks until I fell into a coma. I remember when my mates finally turned 18 and could vote, a lot of them ticked the Green box just because they wanted cannabis legalised. That alone proves the point, 16 is far too young to be making decisions that shape the future of a country.
If you happened to watch the Youth MPs this week, you’d know exactly what this agenda looks like in action. Many of them dressed like actual Green Party MPs, most wearing flashy MÄori jewellery as political statements, not cultural respect. One of the whitest kids there was decked out with the biggest pounamu they could find at the local souvenir shop. It was like they Googled: “How to dress like a Green MP” before they hit Parliament.
Lowering the voting age would tip the scales even further left. It’s a cynical strategy to grow the Labour and Green base by handing votes to a demographic that’s been force-fed their worldview. While it might work for those parties, it would be nothing short of suicidal for the political right in New Zealand.
Let kids be kids. Let them finish school, get out into the real world, work a job, pay taxes, and then decide how the country should be run. Until then, this push to lower the voting age is nothing more than a desperate play for votes by parties who rely on ideology over reality.
Matua Kahurangi is just a bloke sharing thoughts on New Zealand and the world beyond. No fluff, just honest takes. He blogs on https://matuakahurangi.com/ where this article was sourced.
Let me be honest, at 16, I wasn’t remotely interested in politics - I was too busy chasing girls, playing rugby on the weekends, and knocking back 440ml cans of 8% Woodstocks until I fell into a coma. I remember when my mates finally turned 18 and could vote, a lot of them ticked the Green box just because they wanted cannabis legalised. That alone proves the point, 16 is far too young to be making decisions that shape the future of a country.
If you happened to watch the Youth MPs this week, you’d know exactly what this agenda looks like in action. Many of them dressed like actual Green Party MPs, most wearing flashy MÄori jewellery as political statements, not cultural respect. One of the whitest kids there was decked out with the biggest pounamu they could find at the local souvenir shop. It was like they Googled: “How to dress like a Green MP” before they hit Parliament.
Lowering the voting age would tip the scales even further left. It’s a cynical strategy to grow the Labour and Green base by handing votes to a demographic that’s been force-fed their worldview. While it might work for those parties, it would be nothing short of suicidal for the political right in New Zealand.
Let kids be kids. Let them finish school, get out into the real world, work a job, pay taxes, and then decide how the country should be run. Until then, this push to lower the voting age is nothing more than a desperate play for votes by parties who rely on ideology over reality.
Matua Kahurangi is just a bloke sharing thoughts on New Zealand and the world beyond. No fluff, just honest takes. He blogs on https://matuakahurangi.com/ where this article was sourced.
10 comments:
Couldn’t agree more. This generation lack the discipline and respect for their elders and have a sense of entitlement that is frankly galling. Grow up first, get a real job, experience life with all it’s responsibilities and then your voice might carry weight.
My personal opinion about the age that you can vote is the following. It should be the age when if you committed a serious crime you would receive the full sentence. If you are not treated like an adult in the justice system you cannot vote.
Michael Laws deals succinctly with 16 year olds voting. Personally, with the general pressures of life and work, I do not consider that I was sufficiently informed to vote inteligently until retirement age! And that despite reading the more objective newspapers of the times.
Matua, oh so true!!
The conservative voters are all at sea at present. The left-wing parties have a strategy. Unless the coalition partners unite and implement the voters wishes we won't see a conservative government in the future. The Maori party are endeavouring to get all part-Maori onto the Maori roll. As you imply, the young Greens and Labour are vocal in their party support. The mainstream media are hopelessly compromised. It is imperative that we have one united Conservative Party formed well before the election. If ACT and NZF could modify their stances and unite, they could garner the largest percentage of votes.
Labour is pushing hard for 16 year olds to vote.... McAnulty and co. Another engineered disaster in the making. Be very afraid of this one in a country which seems to have completely lost its marbles in every direction
surely an app on the ever present handpiece will steer them in the right direction............where's my tui?
16? Nah, let's lower it to 6. A lot of very young children are remarkably conservative in their views. That should cancel the 16-year-old radicals out.
Matua are you reading my mind ?
Exactly what I was thinking.
And to demonstrate these children do not have either the maturity or life experience, head down to Gore and look at the mess where they elected a Mayor who was so young he didn't know what he was doing.
This wouldn’t be such an issue if we didn’t have a few decades of utter brainwashed rubbish to deal with.
Not really the kids fault they’re all budding lunatic activists by the time the leave school š¤¦♂️
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