00:00For these students at Tulangata High School in regional Victoria, the right to vote is
00:07something they're looking forward to.
00:09I know a lot of people my age don't, but I have friends who are pretty interested in
00:13politics.
00:14I probably know a lot about it because I've like made myself know a lot about it because
00:18I know it's important.
00:20But new research has shown young regional Australians are a key demographic losing faith
00:25in democracy.
00:26When we can detect trends or cohorts of people that feel left behind, we need to turn around
00:32and face that.
00:33And that's the message to our decision makers.
00:35The study was conducted by McKinnon and is its first annual snapshot of attitudes towards
00:41Australian democracy.
00:43It's an independent foundation with people from all sides of politics, including former
00:47South Australian Premier Jay Wetherill.
00:50I think there are enough warning signs for us to be concerned.
00:55But it's not just young people.
00:57The research claims 66% of those in major cities and 63% in regional cities believe election
01:04outcomes are fair.
01:06But in regional and remote Australia, that number drops to under 53%, while 65% say they
01:14don't feel understood or represented by federal politicians.
01:18They don't listen to nobody, or they want their payment at the end of the week.
01:23So yeah, I guess we're fairly removed and distant geographically from federal politics, I think.
01:32There's nothing to stop people having sensible conversation in a democracy, so I think that's
01:38a great thing.
01:39I don't feel they understand the conditions in rural Australia.
01:46As for why faith in democracy is falling in regional Australia, McKinnon cites two main
01:52issues.
01:53Frustration with government service delivery in the bush and the continuing decline in the
01:58number of regional media outlets.
02:00The less people that consume news, and that's certainly what's happening in the regions,
02:05the lower their confidence in the democracy.
02:08But experts say the low numbers in regional Australia are likely to be influenced by Labor
02:14being in government.
02:15The regional and remote areas whose members at the moment are more likely to be in opposition,
02:21that kind of feeds into their trust and confidence in democracy and the system.
02:25A city-country divide when it comes to the state of the nation.
02:30The regional and remote areas are likely to be interested in living in schools, because of the
02:34people in the past, have very much better.
02:35Free from many countries.
02:35It's very important to what we're saying.
02:37The first time, our students we're planning to attend, and how we are in the district of the
02:40world, they're really?
02:41What do we do in this jij- organizational and how we are doing?
02:42The first time, our students we really have a healthy opportunity to register.
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