The question of whether 16 and 17 years olds should be able to vote in Australian elections is a vital one, but it can't distract from, or substitute for, a wider look at how our democracy is meeting the needs of young Australians.
Or rather, how it hasn't been.
This Thursday, I'll be chairing a hearing of a Parliamentary inquiry into a bill proposed by Greens Senator Steele-John, which would extend the franchise to 16-year-olds.
I'm excited that we will be hearing directly from young Australians about their experiences, concerns and frustrations with our democracy. I'm hopeful we can effectively respond to what they have to say.
Inequality is on the rise in Australia, and one of its dimensions is generational. Our 26 years of economic growth have produced too many losers, and too many of these are younger Australians who face insecurity at work and for whom home ownership is out of reach.
Unsurprisingly in this context it's clear that young Australians feel our democracy isn't working for them. In the 2018 Lowy Institute poll, only 49% of people aged between 18 and 29 regard democracy is their preferred form of government, compared to 74% of people aged 45-59 and 77% of people aged 60+. This isn't a one-off result, it's the continuation of a trend.
It's less clear, but equally disturbing, that it seems this disquiet is most pronounced about those who should have the biggest stake in political decision-making - in particular, amongst First Nations people's, some newly-arrived CALD communities and young Australians who have faced educational and economic disadvantage. Of course, young Australians aren't a homogenous cohort - their diversity must be reflected in efforts to redress our democratic deficit.
So, what's the problem that this bill is intended to solve? If what we are anxious about is a political system which is alienating 18-24 year olds such that they are much less likely to even be enrolled to vote than the general population, it seems odd to seek to fix this by simply adding 16 and 17 year olds to this mix of disaffection. This is not to reject the idea, far from that, but to ensure that we don't lose sight of a concerning bigger picture - a democracy presently diminished by excluding thousands of young people.
We do know that young Australians care about politics, when it can be connected to the realities of their lives, such as when 65,000 enrolled to vote prior to the marriage equality survey.
While we do need to reject canards of incapacity on the part of young Australians, the wider issue here is the relationship between political and economic inequality. So the lowering of the voting age shouldn't be looked at in isolation. For me it's part - a vital part, to be sure - of a wider project of democratic inclusion.
To fix the generation gap in our politics we have to better understand what can be done to engage and involve young people in our politics. We have to bear witness to all of the concerns of those young Australians who want the right to have a say over decisions that affect them, but presently don't. By reason of formal exclusion, and informal exclusions - both of these matter.
This will involve being open to change much more than just the age of majority when it comes to voting. Though of course we should be - noting that the sky hasn't fallen in over Scotland, Austria, Germany or Norway, to name just a few of the nations that have enabled 16-year-olds to cast votes in elections.
Effective citizenship rests on the right to vote, but this is a starting point, not the whole picture. Submissions to the inquiry have rightfully drawn attention to the weak institutional framework connecting young Australians to decision-making at the national level.
How political parties work is part of this problem, and has to be part of the solution. We have to get better at reaching out, and understanding that the way things have been done aren't necessarily a comfortable fit for everyone's interests and priorities.
Of course, the form of our democracy isn't - and indeed can't be - set in stone.
But some of it has served us well. We do have to reconcile any expansion of the franchise with other important features of our democracy, in particular compulsory voting, which is so important in ensuring that voices are not shut out of our political conversations.
Under Bill Shorten, Labor has taken this problem of our democratic deficit seriously. We have recognised that answering it requires engaging directly with those most affected.
That's why in the last Parliament Sam Dastyari argued that the voting age should be lowered and young people consulted more in policy making. Labor's frontbench now has Terri Butler as our spokesperson for young Australians.
There's no equivalent role in the government. Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and now Scott Morrison have prosecuted a war on young people. A series of policies and cuts with the effect of widening a generation gap.
But the problem here goes beyond policies. Economic inequality can’t be ended unless and until political inequality is ended too.
We need to refresh our democracy, and ensure that all voices are equally heard so that those with the most at stake in Australia's future - young Australians - aren't ignored.