Age will prevent many of them from making their vote count on July 2, but Dapto High School students didn’t miss an opportunity to grill Whitlam’s federal election hopefuls on Friday.
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Five of the six candidates contesting the newly-named seat, formerly Throsby, were front and centre at a political forum, held as part of the school’s ongoing “Nurturing Democracy” program.
The candidates fielded questions based on everything from public transport and heritage rail to climate change, jobs and marriage equality.
“It gave me a better insight into which policies reflect my personal views,” year 12 student Paige Herford, 16, said. Fellow year 12 student Tegan Ryan, 17, discovered how different party policies could benefit her and those around her. The democracy program has run since 2011.
“The belief is our graduates should have a working knowledge of our democratic structures and be keen to participate,” school principal Andrew FitzSimons said.
The school’s SRC elections are based on Australian Electoral Commission processes.