Housing, health and Hobart stadium top issues for young voters

ABC NEWS (Australia)

With a population skewed towards the older age groups younger voters in Tasmania can easily feel neglected by the major parties. But as Scout Wallen found out housing, health and the proposed Hobart stadium top their list of election issues.

Transcript

00:00In a cold Hobart share house, university students Grace and Amber are chatting about the upcoming

00:08election.

00:09I found out through a meme on Instagram from a friend, it was like, Jeremy Rockcliffe,

00:15the party's over.

00:16And I was like, what is happening?

00:18Housing, the environment and health are the top issues swaying their votes, as well as

00:23the state's growing debt.

00:25I think living in a state where the projections feel sustainable, that it feels like when

00:29we're not going to run ourselves into the ground and be reliant on the federal government

00:35is really important to me.

00:37Fine arts graduate Josh has similar concerns, but the proposed Hobart stadium is also jumping

00:43out.

00:44I think it's important for that money to go somewhere else.

00:47I'm not opposed to having a team, but I'm more opposed to how much money they're willing

00:51to spend on it.

00:52I think Tasmania probably deserves one at some point, but I think the idea that they're

01:01pushing it to be a thing to keep youth around is maybe more of a, it seems like an afterthought.

01:09In the state's North West, retail worker Joel says the stadium could be good for young people.

01:15If they can get prominent artists on board, and more sport down here, and heaps more events,

01:21then of course that will provide a lot more opportunity for people.

01:24But he's more concerned about jobs.

01:27As someone that's had hours cut back and cut back considerably, trying to find more work

01:33to cover that has been an absolute nightmare.

01:35I don't think it's actually been that bad my entire life.

01:38Election experts say, because Tasmania's population is, on average, older than in other parts

01:44of Australia, the major parties tend to focus on what matters to older people.

01:49So it's not surprising if younger voters feel neglected.

01:53I don't think I'm drawn to voting for a major party.

01:56I think we need to see something different, and I think that the Greens or an independent

02:02should be getting it.

02:03You can live here for five to ten years or entire life and not even see a single speck

02:10of some of the improvements that the rest of Australia gets, or sometimes even Hobart

02:15gets.

02:16But they're hoping to use their vote to create a brighter future for their home state.

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