Prompted by a terrible interview by Drew Barrymore on Real Time with Bill Maher, a discussion of youth disenfranchisement. Also touched on are the subjects of how owning property and assets is the time of political awakenings and some reforms to make enfranchisement more universal; for citizens, immigrants and the Australian Diaspora.

Poll: Should immigrants be able to vote in Australian elections?

Disenfranchisement of the Young in America

Real Time with Bill Maher was just on HBO; one of the guests was Drew Barrymore. She didn't impress, she babbled on about some documentary she did on youths not voting in the US. She was incoherent and came across as a typical dopey airheaded Hollywood star who picked up an "issue" of the moment to care about. The question is a good one, why are youths under thirty disenfranchised?

One of the statistics that was bandied about was that 73% of American youth don't vote. Since I have just broken into my thirties I can recall my indifference to who I voted for in Australia. Often I voted for third parties out of contrariness or spite. In 1993, I thought Paul Keating was a despicable cad - now, I think he is Australia's first modern Prime Minister. I held no love for Labor or Liberal. Both represented in some way "the man" and by voting for them I would only be legitimizing my consent in their oppression of me though government. It is probably this same sentiment in youth that puts AK47s in the hands of Iraqi youth.

Government is at its core a property protection system. Enfranchisement really only comes with an individual securing property for themselves and their family. When we bought our house which backed onto a farm lane and a large farm behind us, we immediately became politically active locally. It was the defence of our property and lifestyle we had at our property that got us involved in local politics.

We discovered after we had bought our house that the local county had condemned the farm land behind us to get their hands on it. The property owners were asking too high a price for the land, so the county appropriated it through the courts. The original plan was to put one school on the land, but the county quickly changed this to two schools. Between our house and the school remained a 7 acre spit of land and the farm lane which ran behind our back fence.

Our fear was that the farm lane would become a paved dual-way road. So we got up at the local town meetings and committees, and made speeches. We had a county supervisor (a member of the county assembly) come to our house to discuss it with us and our neighbours. We had a local town councillor come to our house a couple of times as well. In the end our pressure had the lane closed from the paved roads running either at its ends, but nothing permanent. We would not have become politically active unless we had property to protect.

Enfranchising Youth

While the vote is compulsory for Australians (in Australia anyway), the question needs to be asked why should youth get involved in politics? Why should anyone? The political campaigns through the mass media and sculpted photo opportunity are like the modern permutation of rotten burroughs. Swinging electorates get the most amount of Government welfare as politicians dip at the trough of the popular politician in an attempt to buy the vote in the electorates that will get them into power.

Added to this is the high unemployment rate of Australian youth, around four times the national unemployment rate, leaves Australian youth with little means to pursue property either. The Sydney housing market is making housing unaffordable for white collar professionals in the Sydney district. If individuals become politically active once they start to appropriate property, assets and savings, then this does not bode well for Australia in terms of future political engagement.

Enfranchising Anyone?

I took a keen interest in foreign policy around the year 2000. No reason in particular other than I had exhausted my interest in the Australian Flying Corps - which until that time had been the main focus of my internet publishing efforts. Courtesy of kuro5hin , I explored my discoveries of Australian foreign policy, defence, government, history etc through diarizing there. Despite my knowledge and interest in these matters am I any better enfranchised for it?

As a member of the Australian Diaspora I have no direct representative in parliament representing my issues. As I live in the IS I have watched with concern over the treatment and incarceration of individuals suspected of terrorism. The detaining without charging has occurred for foreigners and US citizens in the US. The Bill of Rights which was the triumph of the enlightenment in translating natural rights to the political sphere has been cast aside by an Administration more concerned in achieving their ideologue ends through any means available to them.

We haven't moved back to Australia yet as the quarantine laws for our cats are more inconvenient than the probability of me being detained at John Ashcroft's pleasure. The cats would be quarantined with 100% certainty, whereas the likelihood of me being detained is low, unless one of my neighbours accuses me of being a terrorist. Then I reckon I might be in difficulties.

Why can't Immigrants Vote?

I am like many immigrants in Australia - a law-abiding responsible member of society who pays taxes at the same rate as any other citizen. But like the immigrants to Australia I remain disenfranchised here and at home. I don't know how nationalism entered politics, but disenfranchisement is often done so at the hand of nationalism. Government is supposed to be a consensual system of just laws for the protection of an individuals person and property. From that perspective nationalism is irrelevant.

So why can't immigrants vote in Australia? They suffer under Australian laws like Australians do? The pay taxes just like Australians do?

Immigrants to Australia are a minority group that is often treated as an opportunity for wedge politics, rather than a valid part of the polity. Giving immigrants a political voice would slow this down or at least make the more centrist of the political parties take immigrants into account when they do their polling and mining of census data. Money will still flow into the swinging electorates but at least the politicians would have to be aware of immigrants directly.

Universal Enfranchisement Reform For Australia;

• All individuals living in Australia above the age of reason (18) must be given the opportunity to vote without care for their nationality.
• Voting is mandatory for all eligible voters.

Enfranchising the Australian Diaspora?

Since 5% of Australian live and work outside of Australia there needs to be some kind of representation for the diaspora in Australia. This will have the benefit of ensuring the diaspora's voice is heard back home as well as keeping a connection with Australia to the Australians in the diaspora.

• Give electorates to the diaspora with boundaries outside of Australia. For instance a North American electorate, a European electorate, a North/SE Asian electorate etc.

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