Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
National

Voters in Solomon, one of Australia's youngest electorates, want action on climate, cost of living and crime

Darwin resident Tia Harris says her vote in the marginal seat of Solomon is still up for grabs. (ABC News: Jane Bardon)

Her daughter has just turned ten months old, so any party that will make a firm commitment to tackling climate change is likely to get Tia Harris's vote this federal election.

"Climate change is a big thing for me," she said.

"I do worry about the planet, because there's been a lot of evidence about climate change, and I feel like we should take more steps to make the earth better."

Tia, 23, is one of many young voters in the Northern Territory electorate of Solomon that the parties can't afford not to listen to.

The seat, covering Darwin and nearby Palmerston, is held on a slim 3.1 per cent margin by Labor, but it has regularly swung back and forth to the Country Liberal Party.

Darwin's median age of 34 is the youngest of any Australian city, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The Northern Territory has the youngest population of all the states and territories overall. 

Tia's other big concern is youth crime and said she wants to feel safer, "especially in the shopping centres" around Darwin.

Darwin is Australia's youngest city, with a median age of 34, according to the ABS. (ABC News: Che Chorley)

"I do worry when I take my daughter to the shops — like, I don't want her to get hurt, I want her to be able to grow up in a safe environment," she said.

The Coalition federal government called the $50 million royal commission into youth justice in 2017, but said at the conclusion that it was up to the Northern Territory to find and fund the solutions.

Tia wants more money directed at long-term solutions to tackle the causes behind youth offending, especially through greater investment in mental health supports.

Tia said her vote is still genuinely up for grabs at this early stage in the election campaign.

"I don't actually know who's running in the election yet, so I need to research that and find out who's got my interests, because I'm looking for someone who's going to help with the youth," she said.

"The parties' policies will decide my vote, rather than the people. I'll look at what they're planning on doing and what they stand for."

Cost of living 'going wild', worrying young voters

A youth mentor, Kelvin Williams, said he will be looking out for commitments to tackle cost of living pressures.

At an event raising awareness about youth homelessness in Darwin, he told the ABC the issue was weighing heavily on voters' minds.

"We're seeing the cost of living really go wild," he said.

Youth worker Kelvin Williams said young people need opportunities to break negative cycles. (ABC News: Jane Bardon)

"We've jumped into a space where our pay isn't going to grow for the next few years, so it's very difficult and peaks your anxieties at the moment."

But like Tia, one of Mr Williams's key asks is federal money for new ways of helping troubled young people.

"We need to try something different within this youth justice space, the Indigenous crime and statistics space," he said.

"Around youth homelessness, and kids in care — we've seen the cycle continue, and its time to break it, and the only way we can do that is try something we haven't in the past."

For Martin Hunter Puruntatameri, part of the solution was being given the opportunity to start producing his own rap music.

He served a stint in Darwin's Don Dale youth detention centre as a young teenager and said it made him decide to never go back.

Martin Hunter Puruntatameri said investments in supports like youth music programs can get people back on track. (ABC News: Jane Bardon)

Martin would like to see election commitments that provide money towards setting up programs and resources like music studios, to give young people getting into trouble an outlet.

"Most of these young boys that are on the streets at night and breaking in, they're usually gifted for making music and making up rhymes — it helps them let their anger out," he said.

"Some of these kids, they get out of control and they end up getting locked up or end up getting hurt with blades and all that, it's scary.

"We should get studios for these young gifted men that also want to reach up to the top."

Racial and gender equality on voters' minds

Kyrah Tye Tupaea wants political leaders to focus on big societal changes.

"Just equality, because there's definitely inequality, in gender, in race, I want to hear what they could do to help," she said.

"Because even looking at women's wages versus men's wages, there's a very big difference."

Kyrah Tye Tupaea would like the parties to do more to address inequality in society. (ABC News: Jane Bardon)

Jolley Nguyen is another of Solomon's young voters putting the parties on notice that the commitments they make in the last few weeks of the campaign could win her ballot.

"I'm still kind of leaning on some of my friends, to see who they will vote for," she said.

"But I will also look at what are the issues to see who I will finally vote for."

The latest data from the ABC'S Vote Compass reveals which issues are most important to voters.
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.