PRESS RELEASE: ABG Tells Politicians to Step Aside on Voting Age Reform
Monday, 28 July 2025
Australians for Better Government Tells Politicians to Step Aside on Voting Age Reform
“The Australian people should be the ones to decide what the voting age is, it shouldn’t be left to politicians,” announced ABG Co-founder Kevin Loughrey when speaking with 2GB’s Ben Fordham on July 23rd.
The discussion of changing the voting age has sparked widespread debate in media and on the talk-back lines in Australia after Teal Independent and Member for Kooyong, Monique Ryan, pledged she would introduce a private member’s bill to reduce the voting age to 16.
The interference of politicians in Australia’s voting system is in stark contrast to the views of Australians for Better Government, a group established to address Governmental reform.
Speaking on behalf of ABG, President Steven Tripp said, “ABG’s official position on the voting age is that it should be up to the Australian people to decide, by way of a binding plebiscite”.
“There are conflicting views across the political spectrum on what the appropriate age should be, including debate within ABG itself. But regardless of what the age should be, where the ABG Committee finds solid consensus is that it is not up to the politicians to decide. Politicians should be the last group of people who have any influence over our voting system,” Mr. Tripp added emphatically.
Monique Ryan’s attempt to reduce the voting age in Australia from 18 to 16 comes on the heels of the decision by Sir Keir Starmer’s UK Government to do the same.
Speaking on behalf of the Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIBUK), Chairman Leigh Evans warned Australians of following a similar path. “The Starmer Government is doing untold damage in eroding the fundamental pillars of freedom of speech, sovereignty and voting integrity in the UK. Reducing the voting age is just another in a long list of examples.”
“Australians will make up their own minds, but we view this as pure gerrymandering. I hope Australians will feel the same, and will also feel that it’s their decision, not that of politicians.”
Mr. Tripp agreed. “Ms. Ryan’s private member’s bill to reduce the voting age is a clear indication of the mentality of politicians in Australia. It is disappointing that Ms. Ryan’s automatic reaction is to move a bill, instead of taking the issue to the Australian people to decide.”
In his interview on Ben Fordham, Kevin Loughrey shared similar sentiments when addressing Ms. Ryan’s proposed bill, “I think that is a quintessential example of how politicians will try and configure things to suit their own interests and not act in the interests of this Country”.
“All our problems in Australia are the result of Government,” Mr. Tripp added. “Ms. Ryan’s proposed bill is another example of the ever-growing overreach by Government and the authority that politicians feel they have over our lives. It has to stop.”
ABG is dedicated to reforming Australia’s Constitution, optimising our system of Government and improving the quality of our Parliamentarians. ABG’s extensive solutions and proposals can be found on their website www.australiansforbetter.com
For Editors
Contact: Steven Tripp, ABG President, Email: steven.tripp@australiansforbetter.com,
Tel: +61 433 401 281, Website: https://www.australiansforbetter.com
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