Aust, bid to lower voting age to 18
(N.Z.P. A.-Reuter—Copyright) SURFERS PARADISE, July 3. Whether teen-agers vote at the next Australian national election, due in November, may well depend on Susan King, the teen-age daughter of the South Australian AttorneyGeneral (Mr Leonard King).
The Australian Labour Party’s federal conference is expected to decide tomorrow that Miss King should be the principal plaintiff in any High Court test case to force the vote for 18, 19 and 20-year-olds when elections for a new Federal Parliament takes place. The law, which allows votes by 18, 19 and 20-year-olds in South Australian state elections, comes into force in South Australia today, and the A.L.P. interprets the Constitution as entitling people with votes in state elections to vote in Federal elections.
Miss King, and a number of other South Australians,
will seek today to enrol on the Federal list of electors in South Australia according to Labour Party sources. Strategy in the event of refusal by the Federal Electoral Office to accept the registration of persons under the age of 21 will be discussed at today’s Labour Party federal executive meeting, but sources indicate that recourse to High Court action in the event of refusal is a foregone conclusion.
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Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32959, 4 July 1972, Page 7
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205Aust, bid to lower voting age to 18 Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32959, 4 July 1972, Page 7
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