Politics, elections, campaign promises and party principles.

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Politics. Elections. Campaign promises and party principles.

All terms I certainly didn’t really give much notice or thought to throughout most of my teenage years. Too busy chucking a footy round or worrying about some whack NCEA assignment, I guess.

The 2023 general election marked the first time I could go out and truly have a say as to who I want in charge of my country, and I wanted to make sure I had done my homework – Possibly contrary to popular belief, I was not alone.

According to Aotearoa’s Electoral Commission, 18 to 24-year-olds in this country, as a percentage, voted more than all other age groups up until 45–49-year-olds, clocking in at 74%. There has been a constant increase in younger voter turnout in general over the past few elections.

This increase came as no surprise to UC political philosophy lecturer Lindsey Te Ata o Tū MacDonald.

He said young people watched a government led by Jacinda Arden and her promises of climate change action shift their values with the introduction of chris hipkins and more recently, christopher luxon.

This, MacDonald said, was a result of “the majority of voters going to vote for the great self-interested generation, rather than their grandchildren.”

To be brutally honest, that’s part and parcel of our democratic society. It is well within individual’s rights to vote from purely a selfish outlook – you can’t stop that.

However, what you can do, and what MacDonald said young people have cottoned on to, is voting for what you want your future to look like, rather than what some random 50-year-old bloke wants right now.

Vote New Zealand gave their two cents worth to Canta. Deputy Chief Executive of Operations Anusha Guler outlined the work they do to ensure young people will continue to fill up the voting booths.

“In an election year, we advertise widely across television, radio, online, on billboards and digital signs, and on social media. Our advertising is designed to reach everyone, including younger voters.”

Interestingly, Guler also said out of all 18-29 year olds who enrolled to vote in ’23, 23% of them cited wanting to make a difference as their reason to vote, a whole 11% up from 2020.

They say stats don’t lie, and looking at them through this lens, it’s clear the new tidal wave of young people who are determined to take onus on their future is a real one.

Better yet, the wave is beginning to break.

As young people, even if you think politics isn’t your forte, it’s still worth being aware of. The world will be in our hands one day, and when it comes time for us to inherit it, we don’t want to be filled with the regret of not doing something sooner.