There is now a generation of young Australians who have only ever known John Howard as Prime Minister. They are Generation Y, and while for some the Coalition represents stability, others are keen for change.

Their votes are ripe for the taking. Research suggests that Generation Y lack party loyalty and will change their vote according to who can address the issues they care about.

In some key marginal seats, these young voters will have a significant impact on the election result. Moreton, in the southern suburbs of Brisbane is one of them. Here, young voters outnumber any other age group.

The Liberal party’s Gary Hardgrave holds the seat by a slim margin of 2.8 per cent. While many young voters supported the Howard Government last time round, the Liberal party’s research suggests that almost a quarter of those supporters are now turning away.

The internet and social networking websites like MySpace and Facebook are emerging as places where this generation like to get their information. Many politicians are catching on – John Howard has made policy announcements on You Tube and Kevin Rudd is overloaded with Facebook friends – but are they getting through?

REPORTER:

Sashka Koloff

The seat of Moreton, in Brisbane's southern suburbs, is a must-win for both parties. Held by the Liberals on a margin of just 2.8% it includes wealthy older suburbs lining the Brisbane River as well as new housing developments further south. Moreton is the most culturally diverse electorate in the Sunshine State, with big Sudanese and Asian populations. But it's the young people which make it special. A third of the voters here are under 35 and whoever wins them over has a good chance of winning government. At 22, Fiona Galloway has a well-paid job and lives at home with her parents.

FIONA GALLOWAY: At this point in time the hot topic is the environment and, you know, being carbon-neutral and things like that.

Last time round, voters stuck with the man they knew, John Howard. This time it might be different. Recent polls suggest young voters will desert the Coalition on November 24. Fiona might too.

FIONA GALLOWAY: At this point in time, I'm probably, I see the two major parties as having quite similar policies on a lot of the major things, and so at this point in time I'm leaning towards the Greens Party, depending where their preferences lie.

Fiona's friend Ashley Lovell also lives in Moreton. At 22, he says he's not interested in politics and will probably vote the same way as his parents.

REPORTER: Could your mind be changed?

ASHLEY LOVELL: Because I'm not that passionate about politics really, I see myself as a potential swing voter and, yeah, and, yeah, definitely, if I'm exposed to the views that click with me, yeah, enough.

Despite the youth vote, when we visited Moreton last week both major candidates were focusing their attention elsewhere. ALP candidate Graham Perrett was at the Sunnybank Bowling Club.

GRAHAM PERRETT, ALP CANDIDATE, MORETON: I invited people today to come along to this morning tea so that we could hear about what Labor's plan is for the aged community, because it is a significant part of Moreton.

Just up the road, at the Salisbury Bowling Club, Liberal member Gary Hardgrave was trying to win over the lady bowlers.

WOMAN: You're never too young for it.

So what is Gary Hardgrave, who's held the seat of Moreton since John Howard took office in 1996, offering young voters?

GARY HARDGRAVE, MEMBER FOR MORETON, LIBERAL: I think they are concerned about the future, making sure that what we've got today is even better tomorrow.

And what about Graham Perrett?

GRAHAM PERRETT: Young people can see beyond the next 10 years, the next 20 years. They understand how important climate change is. They understand how important housing affordability is.

So can they engage Ashley?

ASHLEY LOVELL: Life seems pretty good, generally, so, if you've got no worries, to make me interested you'd either have to be a comedy and in terms of YouTube, yeah, I mean, people are just going to search things that enjoy and I guess comedies and that sort of thing.

And how sure is Fiona of how she'll vote?

FIONA GALLOWAY: I could change my mind on the day, I don't know. I don't really have any particular preference at this stage.

JENNY BROCKIE: Welcome to all of you. Fiona, can I start with you? You made it clear you're up for grabs in this election. When will you decide who you're going to vote for?

FIONA GALLOWAY: Um, I guess, probably on the day because up until that point there's going to be information coming out which could sway me either way but, I mean, I don't know what that's going to be until it sort of grabs my attention.

JENNY BROCKIE: Now, do any of the politicians that you see appeal to you in any way? Is there anybody who cuts through for you?

FIONA GALLOWAY: In this electorate?

JENNY BROCKIE: Yeah, in the election generally?

FIONA GALLOWAY: Um, there's several politicians. I think Tony Abbott stands out to me as a politician which I quite like.

JENNY BROCKIE: Why is that?

FIONA GALLOWAY: I just find him to come across as being a genuine and open person. Um, not that other politicians aren't, but he just comes across being that way to me more than a lot of others.

JENNY BROCKIE: Would that influence how you vote, what you think of them personally?

FIONA GALLOWAY: Um, yeah, I think the way a person's personality comes across to you says a lot about what their values are and then obviously you're going to vote along those lines.

JENNY BROCKIE: We'll come back to you a little bit later because I'd like to explore a little bit more with you some policy areas. Ashley, you don't seem to be engaged by anyone at the moment. Is that fair to say?

ASHLEY LOVELL: Yes.

JENNY BROCKIE: OK, how are you going to make up your mind how you vote?

ASHLEY LOVELL: I think I'm genuinely Liberal but, um, I'm, yeah, I am open to sway and I think tonight might persuade me if I learn a bit, but I'm generally not too passionate about

JENNY BROCKIE: Not passionate about one side or the other?

ASHLEY LOVELL: No, not passionate, and I'm not conflicting with any views. It's more or less I just believe a strong economy will have a flow-on effect. You'll be able to cater for your communities.

JENNY BROCKIE: OK, so you're veering towards the Liberals at this stage but you're still able to be swayed?

ASHLEY LOVELL: Oh, yeah.

JENNY BROCKIE: Roger, what about you? You're a 24-year-old student. You voted for the Liberal Party in the last federal election. You're thinking of changing your vote. Why?

ROGER MOO: Um, just based on a few policies when it comes to climate change. Um, and obviously the Liberals' policies in terms of foreign policies, in terms of the Iraq war and things like that I disagree with the way they've handled some of those issues. Um, so and, you know, I feel that based on those things, um, maybe they've been there for a little bit too long and it's about time for a new government.

JENNY BROCKIE: So, how set is that view of yours? Can that be changed?

ROGER MOO: I'll be honest. That can also be changed. I'm not 100%, um, you know, I'm not 100% sure I will vote Labor on the day. Certain things could happen, especially now, seeing that the election date's been set and the campaign's in full swing. So obviously between now and then, you know, depending what happens, I could definitely change.

JENNY BROCKIE: This is going to terrify the politicians watching and listening to this. Rebecca Drury, you're 18, you're a law student, you're voting for the first time. Which way are you leaning and why?

REBECCA DRURY: So far I'm leaning towards Liberal just because Ashley already said about a strong economy makes for a better country, it gives us all better chances. Currently the Liberal, for the last.. Has it been three terms they've been in? They've kept the economy pretty stable and I think that maybe a change could upset that balance or potentially just ruin what we've already worked for and I don't think change would benefit anyone.

JENNY BROCKIE: Doug, you're 20, you're an apprentice electrician and you live at home with your parents. You're going to be voting for the first time this time around too. What sort of things will affect your vote?

DOUG GAUL: Personally, coming straight into an apprenticeship, I think not only for me but for a majority of younger people who don't have too many things to worry about at the moment, so, like, being an apprentice, like, the incentives are really good, um, but I'm sort of under the impression if it was a Labor Party that came in, because they're more labour-based, there could be even higher incentives.

JENNY BROCKIE: So you're identifying with the Labor Party in terms of just the sort of job you're in and being an apprentice and so on? You think they're going to be more sympathetic to you?

DOUG GAUL: Pretty much and basically due to the fact I'm one for change. For better or for worse, that's part of the vote.

JENNY BROCKIE: So have you decided who to vote for yet?

DOUG GAUL: No, I'd have to say no.

JENNY BROCKIE: James, you're 27, you're married with two kids, you're studying business and you're working part-time at a supermarket. Have you made up your mind yet?

JAMES NYIKOLE: No. I just want to hear what the two main parties are going to say in their campaign and I think what they will say will influence who I can vote for.

JENNY BROCKIE: Now, tell me what you like about the major parties and what you don't like? What are the things that you like about them and what are the things you don't like about them?

JAMES NYIKOLE: I guess it is their policies. When we talk about the Liberals I think what concerns me is the issue of the industrial relations and I think it affects most of us in the studio and even in the larger population.

JENNY BROCKIE: So the IR laws for you, James, is an important issue. What else?

JAMES NYIKOLE: Interest rate, I think the Liberals are a bit tricky, you know. We know that Reserve Bank is, you know, independent and, when it comes to the election, like the last election, the current Government promised they're going to keep the interest rate low and we know that the Reserve Bank operates independently so why, why can't we be a bit honest, you know, tell the Australian people, you know?

JENNY BROCKIE: OK, now, you're from Sudan, you've been here since 2002. There are about 1,000 Sudanese people in Moreton. Have the recent comments by the Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews saying that the Sudanese weren't adjusting to the Australian way of life, has that influenced you at all?

JAMES NYIKOLE: Yeah, the comments are not welcome in the community, in the entire community and I think it was really unfortunate, something like that, to come from the current sitting Government.

JENNY BROCKIE: So is Labor offering you anything by comparison?

JAMES NYIKOLE: I haven't heard from them. I don't know what they're going to say but I haven't heard from them and I think the whole thing is really is election, you know, issue.

JENNY BROCKIE: So your vote is well and truly up for grabs? Peter van Onselen, does Labor have to win these people over, so many undecideds in Moreton to win government?

PETER VAN ONSELEN, INSIGHT POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It does. It needs to do well with the youth vote. It didn't do very well at the 2004 election, which was a bit of a surprise because normally Labor comfortably expect to do better than the Coalition when it comes to young people but Kevin Rudd's support at the moment, whilst he's well ahead in the opinion polls, it is considered to be soft and one of the reasons that it might be soft is because amongst the large cohort of young people that are indicating a preference for him, they haven't completely made up their mind yet and we've already heard that from some of the people we've heard from today.

JENNY BROCKIE: How important is the youth vote generally in Moreton and elsewhere?

PETER VAN ONSELEN: It's very important and it's becoming increasingly important in terms of the campaign because the major parties are recognising the need to start using more interactive media when trying to talk to younger people as well. So there's a recognition there from the parties that the youth vote must be importantWHERE previously they didn't take the Internet as seriously as they perhaps might. This time we see John Howard appearing on YouTube. Both sides of politics are taking that sort of medium seriously, knowing that it will appeal directly to young people who are going to be very important.

JENNY BROCKIE: We were expecting the sitting member, Liberal member for Moreton, Gary Hardgrave, to join us tonight but just before this show he said he wouldn't be taking part, which is a shame because it would have been very good to have him here. But Graham Perrett, you're the Labor candidate in Moreton. Young people preferred the Coalition last time around. What's the difference this time?

GRAHAM PERRETT: I think they've had a look beyond the horizon to what, what will be out there in, say 10, 20 years time. Climate change was not on everyone's lips three years ago. Now people in the street of all ages are coming up and talking about climate change. Likewise, three years ago no-one even there was no whisper of drastic change to the industrial relations system so that fairness was thrown out the back door. That has occurred as soon as the Coalition got control of the Senate. So those two things have great impacts on the future of young people and on the day-to-day reality of young people, workplaces and climate change.

JENNY BROCKIE: If that's the case, Emma Hine, that should work well for you as the Greens candidate in Moreton but what can you offer these young people? Apart from environmental policy, what are else are you offering?

EMMA HINE, GREENS CANDIDATE, MORETON: Well, I actually think, in terms of environmental policy just to say the Greens definitely have the strongest climate change policies, by far. We are setting the most stringent greenhouse reduction targets. But other policies are our IR policy. We have the most worker-friendly industrial relations policy. Also education, we're very strong on education. We want to give Australians free quality education. This is going to be their future.

JENNY BROCKIE: So what does that mean in policy terms? What are you offering?

EMMA HINE: Free... abolish HECS and forgive HECS debts. Also, for university students, supplement their income to a greater extent so that they don't have to spend so much time working to put themselves through university so that they can concentrate on their studies and then be great skilled workers once they graduate.

JENNY BROCKIE: Easy to say when you know you're never going to be in power. Is that convincing any of you? Any of you sort of... What are we thinking about this? What do you think, Fiona?

FIONA GALLOWAY: Um, I personally don't have a problem paying for education.

JENNY BROCKIE: Ashley, have any of the candidates made an impact on you? Has anyone actually cut through?

ASHLEY LOVELL: They're going to have to work harder, I think.

JENNY BROCKIE: They're going to have to work harder on you?

ASHLEY LOVELL: No, no, but you make a good point.

JENNY BROCKIE: Ben Gibson, you're 19, you work as a concreter. Who are you going to vote for and why?

BEN GIBSON: Um, probably Labor, basically because of the new IR laws. Um, I actually received a pay rise because of them, so, yeah

JENNY BROCKIE: You received a pay rise because of the new IR laws but you're going to vote Labor?

BEN GIBSON: Oh, sorry. Liberal, I'm going to vote.

JENNY BROCKIE: OK, I just wanted to make that clear.

BEN GIBSON: Sorry.

JENNY BROCKIE: Right. Now I understand. What do you think of John Howard?

BEN GIBSON: Um, I don't really have much of an opinion on politics, to be honest, but, um, I think he's done a good job, like, I've never had problems finding a job so, I mean

JENNY BROCKIE: So being directly affected in a positive way by the new IR laws is what's swinging you that way?

BEN GIBSON: Yep.

JENNY BROCKIE: George, what about you? You're 19, you're Ben's best friend. You went to school together and you both still live in the same street, I think, don't you?

GEORGE DEDES: That's right.

JENNY BROCKIE: And you live with your parents?

GEORGE DEDES: Yep.

JENNY BROCKIE: How are you going to vote?

GEORGE DEDES: I'm thinking, um, Liberal as well, mainly because, the economy's really strong at the moment, unemployment's down and there's no real need to, like, change anything like that at the moment. Also the new IR laws, I feel like I'm doing engineering and there's a big demand for engineers at the moment. I feel, with the laws, I might be able to squeeze extra benefits and more pay out of them.

JENNY BROCKIE: Jeremy, what about you? You're 25, you voted for the Liberal Party last time. Why?

JEREMY KHAN: Because my family always votes Liberal. Didn't really think about it.

JENNY BROCKIE: So you just do what your parents do? What are you going to do this time around?

JEREMY KHAN: Not too sure. Don't have any ideas at the moment. Look at the two parties and I see kind of the same thing. Two big parties trying to perform a PR campaign more than put out, put out strong policies.

JENNY BROCKIE: You all seem remarkably unengaged to me. I mean, I find this really interesting. Why is that? Why are so few of you really certain about how you want to vote?

ASHLEY LOVELL: We haven't seen a downturn in our age group.

JENNY BROCKIE: You haven't seen a downturn?

ASHLEY LOVELL: Yeah, looking back.

JENNY BROCKIE: Like an economic downturn?

ASHLEY LOVELL: Yeah, and I think most of us have a pretty good upbringing. Like, in comparison to other countries and things, I think Australia's going pretty well.

JENNY BROCKIE: So does that mean you've got nothing to react against or you've got nothing...? Yep?

WOMAN: It doesn't seem to matter whether you vote Labor or Liberal, they both make a hundred promises and don't keep two of them.

JENNY BROCKIE: So where does that leave you in terms of deciding how you’re going to vote?

WOMAN: Well, I know which way I'm going to vote.

JENNY BROCKIE: How are you going to vote?

WOMAN: Labor.

JENNY BROCKIE: Why?

WOMAN: Um, my family votes Labor. I like their policies. I'm not a big fan of the IR laws, I'm not a big fan of the Iraq war, and personally I don't like John Howard.

JENNY BROCKIE: How many of you are influenced by how your parents vote at this stage? Right, quite a lot of people, yeah. So I find that very interesting. Ariadne, you do research into how young people vote in Australia. Is this typical, what we're hearing here?

ARIADNE VROMEN, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY: I think what is typical is the low levels of trust that young people, but actually most Australians, feel for their politicians and towards, towards government. That's not that unusual. I think what we're also seeing is in the past the vote was a little bit more predictable because most people had that sort of strong psychological identification with a party, and that's clearly weakening amongst younger people. And we see that a lot of the young people here today are talking about the issues that matter to them and really making their decision, not based on that allegiance to a party or an ideology, or really about the issues that matter in their everyday lives, work.

JENNY BROCKIE: So what does that mean that politicians have to do to get these people engaged?

ARIADNE VROMEN: It means the politicians actually have to talk to young people and then actually listen to them and actually get a better sense of what the issues are that matter in the everyday lives of young people, and pitch towards that.

JENNY BROCKIE: And of course they'd say they're doing that.

ARIADNE VROMEN: Well, I'm a little bit cynical about that.

JENNY BROCKIE: OK, well, while older voters might be watching telly and reading newspapers, this generation gets most of its information elsewhere. Most of them haven't decided how they'll vote yet. They're just waiting to be inspired. And I'm interested in how some of you are getting your information in the run-up to this election. Mitch Gray, you're 18, you're voting for the first time. Tell me how you found out about APEC?

MITCH GRAY: 'Chaser'. I subscribe to it by iTunes. I didn't know anything about it until I watched 'Chaser' and for me all you hear about it was in the news, in the papers, how they shut off the whole Sydney CBD centre and you watched 'Chaser' jump out of the cars, chuck a couple of Canadian flags in, got all the way in, thought, "Well, we can't keep going," turned around, and you think about that, security-wise, it just, it's sort of a bit disheartening.

JENNY BROCKIE: Alright, so that became a major source of information for you, a satire program.

MITCH GRAY: Yeah, you always hear them paying out Rudd, Howard, you know, channel companies, because their policies are wrong or they're bad and they test-drive and things like that. That's where I get all my political information from.

JENNY BROCKIE: Do people get their information from comedy? Yeah, how many of you? Yeah, Doug.

DOUG GAUL: Basically from the 'Chaser' as well and whatever I catch. I watch a little bit of news and, um, basically I just think that youth's exposure to politics is very minimal as you grow up. I think a lot of it has to do with the way that you grow up at home. There's not a lot at school so basically it's what you take on yourself and what your parents show you.

JENNY BROCKIE: So it's coming from your parents and at your age you really rely on comedy quite a lot to find out things. Chris Gold, you're 19, you're studying commerce. How much time do you spend online?

CHRIS GOLD: Well, I do a lot of assignments so pretty much all my time when I'm not doing my assignments which is, yeah, a bit of a procrastinator.

JENNY BROCKIE: So how many hours a day?

CHRIS GOLD: Um, maybe somewhere between two and six, depending on what sort of time of semester it is.

JENNY BROCKIE: Now you have a Facebook page?

CHRIS GOLD: I do, yes.

JENNY BROCKIE: Which is a social networking site. We've got it up here. Can we have a look at your Facebook page? OK. Now for the benefit of people who don't know, and I'm sure none of you fall into this category but Facebook needs to maybe be explained for some of our older viewers. Chris, would you like to take them through how it works?

CHRIS GOLD: Yeah, you can just hook up with all your friends and stuff. It's good to see what you can do, catch up with what everyone's got up to on the weekend. Um, see who went to the pub, who's going out with who, all that sort of stuff.

JENNY BROCKIE: How many people here would have a Facebook or a MySpace page? Does anyone not have a Facebook or a MySpace page? OK, so only a real handful of people. Graham, you put your hand up.

GRAHAM PERRETT: Yes.

JENNY BROCKIE: You have a Facebook and a MySpace page. Let's have a look at your MySpace page.

GRAHAM PERRETT: Oh, no!

JENNY BROCKIE: Oh, yes. OK, do you want to take us through how yours works? Why did you set it up?

GRAHAM PERRETT: Um, a wonderful campaign worker, Kate, just said, "Look, this would be a great way to make contact with a lot of people and..."

JENNY BROCKIE: To win votes?

GRAHAM PERRETT: To win votes, and the way you win votes is by letting people know what you stand for.

JENNY BROCKIE: Do you think it's winning any votes?

GRAHAM PERRETT: In the room tonight, not as many as I'd hoped, that's for sure.

JENNY BROCKIE: You've got your work cut out for you. Rebecca, what do you think of a politician having a MySpace page?

REBECCA DRURY: It's a bit of a joke, really. I have a lot of friends who added MySpace politicians and put them in their top friends just so that they can laugh about it.

JENNY BROCKIE: Have other people done that? Mitch, what do you think of Graham's having a Facbook and a MySpace?

MITCH GRAY: It's a bit corny but it's a good way to get at the young people. It would probably be the main way to get out and get young people to know who you are.

JENNY BROCKIE: Is that right, though? Do you look at the MySpace pages of politicians or Facebook? Yep.

BEN GIBSON: It's actually hard to find, like, the actual official sites, though. A lot of people will just make, like, a joke site and have a lot of jokes about them on the site.

JENNY BROCKIE: Are you more interested in the joke sites than you would be in the serious sites?

BEN GIBSON: Even if you went looking for the serious sites, you probably won't find them anyway. I just find it hard to find them.

JENNY BROCKIE: To find the politician sites?

BEN GIBSON: To find the actual real ones. Like, I mean, like they said, a lot of people just put them in their top friends for a joke and it's hard to actually find the proper ones.

JENNY BROCKIE: Emma, you have a Face Book page. Do you use it to campaign? And how do you feel hearing this?

EMMA HINE: I agree, actually, because I've done the same thing. I've searched for somebody and John Howard will have a million different entries, and don't know which one is the authentic one. But I have a Facebook profile and I also have a group now, Em for MP, if anyone wants to look up and join any group, I would certainly appreciate it.

JENNY BROCKIE: OK, Roger, you've added Kevin Rudd, added a friend on Facebook, on your Facebook page. Why have you cone done that?

ROGER MOO: Initially it was done, I think, quite a while ago, probably earlier this year, because a few friends added them. I thought it would be a fun joke to add Kevin as a friend.

JENNY BROCKIE: So it was a joke, and so, when Kevin Rudd says he has x hundred or thousand friends, it's people like you.

ROGER MOO: It's people like us, unfortunately. It's not a serious thing. If they really want to reach out and touch us younger voters, they need to be more active in the way they approach it. It's no good having a page saying, "This is me, this is Kevin Rudd," having a presence on Facebook.

JENNY BROCKIE: What does that mean, Roger?

ROGER MOO: If they're doing YouTube and Facebook, they need to approach it in a more open manner. Instead of looking at it as this, I'm treating this as another media, which I'm going to treat the same as say newspaper, TV, they need to probably be a little bit more relaxed and not as formal in the way they present information in those things.

JENNY BROCKIE: John Howard has appeared on YouTube a number of times, as I'm sure you all probably know. Let's have a look at his latest post.

JOHN HOWARD, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER ON YOUTUBE: Hello there. This election is about the right leadership for Australia's future and who's best able to keep the economy strong. We must ensure that all Australians enjoy a fair share of our current prosperity. Unemployment is at a 33-year low. Wages after cost of living increase has been taken into account are increasing, and business confidence is very high. Strikes are lower than they've been since 1913.

JENNY BROCKIE: Well, Julian, you're a digital strategist for a communications company. What do you think of that? Does it work?

JULIAN COLE, NAKED COMMUNICATIONS: He's just using the medium in the totally wrong way. As we said before, it's an absolute joke and it's, to me, he's.. It's like vultures are picking on his dead carcass because in terms of...people have hijacked his MySpace page. His MySpace page is an absolute joke. People have taken that video and mashed it up and made comedies and they've got more hits than that. Like, if you think of him as a digital body, it's just been taken over and hijacked.

JENNY BROCKIE: But is the Opposition any better at it?

JULIAN COLE: No, they're quite bad too. I could name a number of examples. But at least with 'Kevin 07' the website, it's a bit more on the right track. They've linked all the websites up together so their MySpace page, their Facebook and his home page are all together and linked in so people have a chance to integrate.

JENNY BROCKIE: Rachel Hills, you're tracking politicians on line for the 'Sunday Age'. Do you think they get it this time around? Do you think they understand the way the people in the room are communicating?

RACHEL HILLS, ONLINE POLITICAL COMMEMTATOR: Well, no, they don't but they certainly get it more than they used to. If you look at how politicians were using the web even six months ago, um, I think the migration on sites like Facebook, MySpace and YouTube is significant. It's still really gimmicky and still really, really shallow. As people said, you can add or you used to be able to add Kevin Rudd on Facebook before he had too many. But you can't leave a message on his wall because the message is still tightly coordinated and they don't want anything to get in the way of that. Similarly, John Howard makes videos for YouTube but they're not the kind of thing that anybody's going to want to watch although they do have that slight comedic element to it, I suppose. But I think that if they want to engage with people better, they need to allow more opportunities for people to actually talk back to them.

JENNY BROCKIE: And what is it you're tracking, exactly?

RACHEL HILLS: I'm tracking the use of online media by politicians by media outlet and activists groups throughout the election.

JENNY BROCKIE: I'm interested in whether politicians could influence you online compared to face to face. They're still going out to shopping centres, they're still walking around trying to meet people and convince them face to face. Would they have a better chance of winning your vote that way? What do you think? Ashley, would they be able to convince you online? What sort of thing would...?

ASHLEY LOVELL: It seems like you want your politicians running the country, you don't want them being comedians. I think they're still delivering their message in a serious way but they're using the medium to translate it into comedy and they're doing it themselves, which is the biggest problem, I think.

JENNY BROCKIE: Humour seems to be coming up again and again. Sam, you're 19 and you're voting in your first federal election. When do politicians make an impact on you? When do they actually get through to you? What sort of things do you remember?

SAM CARR: Um, the one thing I do remember is when Kevin Rudd was on the local radio station Nova that I listen to on the way to work in the morning and, it was it was quite funny. I can remember sitting there and having a laugh and just thinking that, um, he was, he was an Aussie bloke. He was also a politician and professional in his profession but he was a genuine Aussie bloke because of how he was on that show and it was a very funny and they were making, having a bit of a laugh at the stripper incident but I thought that that's what an Aussie bloke does. Like, he goes out and has a night on the town with his mates and enjoys himself. Whether he does that or not. But that's what I remember. Like, they had he could actually have a laugh at himself and wasn't so uptight about it.

JENNY BROCKIE: Peter, what do you make of this, because comedy and humour are coming up again and again?

PETER VAN ONSELEN: I think that's a really interesting observation because one of the things about John Howard 20 years ago is that he mastered AM radio at a time when it was really important to electioneering and it was something a lot of people were listening to, they are still are, I guess, but he was ahead of curve on that. Whereas now, John Howard isn't really in a position to take advantage of FM radio in the same way that someone like Kevin Rudd is. Kevin Rudd is very quick on FM. I've heard him interviewed a few times. He does become quite engaging on it but he also throws in a serious side to go with that so he's not just the funny man but he's also able to raise policies at the same time. Howard refuses to go on FM radio because he's worried he might come out of it the way he's obviously coming out of his online engagements. So Rudd's at a real advantage there and that's the kind of thing that could really sway youth votes at this election.

JENNY BROCKIE: But should politicians have to be funny to win the youth vote?

PETER VAN ONSELEN: They shouldn't have to, and Howard didn't have to at the last election and he won more of the youth vote than Mark Latham. So it's sort of horses for courses. The times have changed now. Three years on, and Howard's struggling with the young people in a way that, in a way that Rudd isn't. He shouldn't have to do it but unfortunately, at the moment, because of the age difference between the two of them, and the fact, I guess, that Rudd is doing it so successfully, it's creating a bit of a stark contrast which is to the Coalition's disadvantage.

JENNY BROCKIE: Graham, are you feeling like you might need a bit of a makeover?

GRAHAM PERRETT: No, not particularly. The reality is that MySpace is a way to communicate. I don't, likewise, with, in terms of friends or whatever term you want to use, it's just a way for me to engage with people.

JENNY BROCKIE: But how much of a challenge is it for politicians of your generation to actually try and come to terms with this?

GRAHAM PERRETT: Yeah, well, I don't think it's any different to what the politicians in the... when Federation first occurred. You need to engage with people and let them know what you stand for. It doesn't matter whether it's a horse and buggy or MySpace or Facebook. It's the same idea. You want them to know what you stand for and that's where I'm proud to say that the Labor Party's got great policies and I just need the opportunities to get them across to people.

JENNY BROCKIE: Well, we'll get on to policy in just a second but we will look at who will ultimately win over this generation in the coming weeks and we'll also look at when they'll decide how they're going to vote. Rebecca Huntley, we've heard a lot of undecided people saying that they like hearing politicians being funny and a little bit about policy. We're going to talk more about policy as we go on now. But I'm just interested in your view about this. You've researched Generation Y. The last election, a lot of people like the people here voted for John Howard, why? Why did they vote for him then?

REBECCA HUNTLEY, IPSOS RESEARCH: Well, I mean some of the research that we're doing shows that young people are disengaged with politics but that's not making them very different than the rest of the population. We've gone through a relatively disengaged period in Australian politics, which is why we've seen incumbent governments returned, whether they're good or bad. Now there's been a slight change. There's been a range of issues that have re-engaged people, young people and old people, the environment, Work Choices, I mean, you've seen some of the issues discussed today. And I think what people are really looking for when they talk about people wanting politicians to be humorous, they really want politicians to be human. They want to communicate in a way that doesn't sound like they're a press release and they want to kind of communicate directly with people and cut through. So I think there are a range of things that have re-engaged people, and they're really looking to be convinced. They're not looking to be convinced by kind of Facebook pages that politicians don't contribute to. I kind of think sometimes politicians online are the equivalent of your uncle getting drunk at a party and trying to breakdance, you're kind of like, don't do it, it's embarrassing. Unless you really understand the medium and you're really prepared to investment time in it, don't waste our time.

JENNY BROCKIE: What why do you think these polls are showing a shift, though? What do you think has happened in the last three years?

REBECCA HUNTLEY: I think we're showing I think the thing is, in the research we've done, most of the time young people say, "Look, the issues aren't really important to me so I'm just going to vote with what I know or what my parents tell me. I'm going to vote with the devil I know and kind of go with incumbency." A range of things potentially have happened to make people reconsider and, again, it's not just young people, it is older people. There are different drivers, certainly. And there looks like a credible alternative and I think that the thing I found in the last couple years is there really hasn't been a credible Labor alternative and there's also a feel like maybe John Howard's been there for a long time, maybe a sense of change. So these are some of the elements that are really coming together to perhaps move this group who have only really known John Howard to think maybe we'll give this Kevin Rudd dag a try.

JENNY BROCKIE: Of course we've just heard about these big tax cuts that the Government has announced. Is that going to influence any of you? Mitch, will that influence you?

MITCH GRAY: For kids like us at uni, if we have no tax to pay and we're still just on a little job, trying to study at uni, and that money is still given to us, I think that would help a lot of people in a fair way.

JENNY BROCKIE: Is that going to influence your vote, though?

MITCH GRAY: Yeah, I saw that and that, talking here today, I think I'm more sitting on the fence now.

JENNY BROCKIE: Why is that? Why is that, Mitch?

MITCH GRAY: A lot of the stuff going around has just changed my mind. I was sort of with Ash, just leaning on Liberal but didn't have much of a mind about it, but now I'm...I don't know. I think I'm just going to, you know, wait and see what comes out.

JENNY BROCKIE: What's made you do that tonight?

MITCH GRAY: All we ever see is John Howard and Kevin Rudd in the media and on news. I've, you know, that's all I know. Labor, Liberal, that's it. So to come here tonight and to hear all, you know, the IR laws and different things, all the policies that have come up, it's really changed my way of thinking about Labor. For me it was just Liberal, it was John Howard, my parents, that's what I was going to, you know. I didn't have much to do with it. We've come up as kids, grown up, gone through high school, have none of the problems with interest rates and things like that, so we don't know any better, we don't know anything about that. So I think that's why a lot of people just, you know, my family influences me, I'll vote that way.

JENNY BROCKIE: Jeremy, what about you? Do you agree with that or...?

JEREMY KHAN: Well, I guess.

JENNY BROCKIE: How do you see John Howard?

JEREMY KHAN: He's kind of old, I guess. But, I don't know. I find it I just look at the two parties and I just see the same thing. I just see two big machines doing the same thing, if that makes any sense.

JENNY BROCKIE: Rebecca, what do you think of Kevin Rudd?

REBECCA DRURY: Many From what I've seen of him so far he seems really indecisive and he doesn't seem like he could stand up to his own party, let alone another country.

JENNY BROCKIE: Interesting. Sam, what about you? What do you think of Kevin Rudd?

SAM CARR: Like I said, I think he's more in touch with, this Generation Y. Just seems to be maybe the age, age difference isn't as big - that could be a factor.

JENNY BROCKIE: Why is that a factor? Why does that matter? Why does it make any difference?

SAM CARR: I don't know. I saw in the newspaper that John Howard was coming up to almost 70 in a couple of years or he would be 70 at the end of this term. I mean, personally, I think that's just I don't know if it's too old to be in a job still, maybe not. But I'm not saying there's an age.

JENNY BROCKIE: There's a few people who would argue you with you about that.

SAM CARR: I'm not saying there's an age where you need to retire but I think there is certainly that age gap makes Kevin Rudd more accessible to Generation Y.

JENNY BROCKIE: Can any of you remember a government other than the Howard Government? Anyone? Yeah. Yes.

ROGER MOO: I do briefly remember Paul Keating in Paul Keating days and probably just before that with Bob Hawke. So I do remember seeing some of that sort of that change over period.

JENNY BROCKIE: How old were you then?

ROGER MOO: Um, how old was I? I was only probably about seven or eight, maybe younger than that.

JENNY BROCKIE: Seven or eight. Wow! Does it matter that you've only known one government? Does that influence how you feel about voting? It does, Rebecca? Why does that influence you?

REBECCA DRURY: Because we haven't seen any change so we don't know in practice what the other party could do. We've never seen the Labor rule and we just don't know what they could offer us because we haven't seen what they can do, as they haven't been in power.

JENNY BROCKIE: So does that make you cautious?

REBECCA DRURY: Yes.

JENNY BROCKIE: What about others? Yep.

WOMAN: I'd like to see a change. I would love to see a change. I mean, how do you know what someone else can do if you've never seen it, if you've never experienced it? So to make, um I think for our generation we need to see this change to teach us, if you will, um, you know, for the future.

JENNY BROCKIE: Edward.

EDWARD MONLEY: Basically the way I see it is if you vote Liberal or you vote Labor there's going to be a change because John Howard has already said he won't stay the whole term, therefore he's going to move on to Peter Costello, and that's something that would influence me because I'm not so sure Peter Costello would be able to maintain things as well as, say, John Howard or maybe even Kevin Rudd.

JENNY BROCKIE: Is that a factor for any of the rest of you, the idea of Peter Costello? Up the back here?

WOMAN: He's much scarier than Kevin Rudd. He's much scarier than Kevin Rudd. That's what it's comes down to. John Howard is going to move on and, for me, I'm astounded that no-one's actually spoken out for Labor. I thought more young people were Labor voters. I'm, you know... or even they're mainly undecided. I'm Labor all the way. I'm just, you know, I'm not voting Liberal, because I can't stand them. They send chills up my spine.

JENNY BROCKIE: Strong point of view. Yeah, over here.

MAN: Is that fair, to be able to pass on to Peter Costello, because all the people are voting for a party, they're more or less They see John Howard, they vote for John Howard more than just the actual party itself, and I think there should be, if they were to vote Liberal there should be some kind of by-election to put in Costello afterwards. I don't think it's very fair how you can vote for one person and slip in someone else afterwards.

JENNY BROCKIE: Over here. Yes, Mitch.

MITCH GRAY: I think he's right. I think that's what we're voting for. We only ever see them on TV. We're voting for John Howard and Kevin Rudd and their policies so, if John Howard were to leave, I think a lot of people would be either disappointed or angry.

JENNY BROCKIE: Yes.

GEORGE DEDES: I'd be happy to give my vote to Peter Costello. He's been doing so well for our economy and what's the point in actually changing such a strong economy? And, like, as a nation we're very, very strong. We mix it with the best. So what's the point of creating a change and seeing what might happen in the future?

JENNY BROCKIE: Up the back. You wanted to say something?

WOMAN: Yeah, I just think that we need to look a bit deeper than, oh, it's been a strong economic government. Um, you know, Australians are working more hours than they ever have before, wages have not gone up that much and the cost of living is increasing and I think it's about time that we just had a deeper look. And for young people that's really important.

JENNY BROCKIE: Over here. Yep.

EDWARD MONLEY: I think, that a lot of the billboards I've seen for John Howard and stuff, I think a quote was "Working families have never been better off" or something. They always seem to focus on the past rather than look to the future and about climate change, it's something that needs to happen and they just don't seem to be focusing on it.

JENNY BROCKIE: Ariadne, is this coming through in your research? Is climate change a big issue for young voters?

ARIADNE VROMEN: Sure, climate change, environment, work, education are the big issues that are important to people.

JENNY BROCKIE: And, Peter, how will they play for each party? Is there enough of a difference on the parties on these issues, do you think, to impact on the youth vote?

PETER VAN ONSELEN: I think there are enough differences on these key issues of climate change, as well as industrial relations, in particular. Those are two clear points of difference. But the problem is that a lot of the rhetoric that people see in most of the debate is the 'me-tooism' coming from Kevin Rudd and the attempt to narrow the gap in other areas. So people have to really want to take a very close look at the parties to see the very real differences. They're there but, if you aren't interested, you won't pick them up quite as clearly.

JENNY BROCKIE: What about the economy? Is that an issue for you? Are you going to vote on something like the strength of the economy? James?

JAMES NYIKOLE: We really need to see the two parties, you know, presenting, you know, clear economic policies for the future. The policies were laid back in early 1980s. We saw foreign investment coming in in the '80s, and then when Liberal Government came to power in 1996 we saw them trying to modify or go further, you know, to allow for investment.

JENNY BROCKIE: How is this all impacting on your vote now, James? What does it mean, because you still say you're undecided?

JAMES NYIKOLE:

JENNY BROCKIE: OK, I'm interested in what would inspire you, what sort of policies you would like to see as young people. Are there things that if either the Government or the Opposition put forward it would really influence your vote? Do any of you have specific things that you'd like to see? Yep, up the back.

WOMAN: Um, I'm constantly hearing about the economy tonight, everybody keeps on talking about the economy but, um, I think huge issues that would affect my vote are the fact that we've taken part in an illegal war in Iraq and we entered in with America, with that and things like that, I think. What...and greenhouse gases, you know, how we're affecting the earth.

JENNY BROCKIE: But what are you looking for from the politicians? Because they would say that, the various parties would say they're addressing those issues in different ways, but they address them.

WOMAN: That's the problem. If there isn't much of a difference between how they're attacking the economy, I think what good is it if we've got a good economy but we're ruining Australia with, you know we're not we're not targeting the issues that we need to be targeting like greenhouse gases, like how we're treating our own earth? What good is a good economy if we're not targeting those things?

JENNY BROCKIE: Fiona, what would swing your vote?

FIONA GALLOWAY: Um, I guess, just reiterating what I think other people are talking about, I think climate change is and has been a big issue. and, um, I guess, strong policies on that are important. Um, the economy is obviously important because no country can continue if they don't have a strong economy but, um, I don't think that it should be the single point that you should vote on.

JENNY BROCKIE: Doug, what about you? What would swing your vote?

DOUG GAUL: Personally, talk about greenhouse and everything, I'm very sceptical on it because I'm a bit of a documentary buff and everything that I watch is supporting the fact that the world's just coming full circle, something that happened millions and millions of year ago. And I'm a bit supporter of that because

JENNY BROCKIE: So you're basically a climate change sceptic. OK, but let's get back to what's going to swing your vote. What do you think would win you over?

DOUG GAUL: Well, personally, and I think it comes down to a lot of other people as well, it's things that are directly going to affect me in the next three years. Things like housing affordability, first home-buyers grant, just trying to get through my trade first, maybe bringing the trades down in apprenticeship time, and hospitals, too, is a big thing too.

JENNY BROCKIE: Peter van Onselen, listening to all of this tonight, if you were advising the parties on how to win over young people and clearly a lot of people here are undecided and a lot of people are not engaged with the political process in a way that older people are, what would you be advising the major parties to do? What would you tell them to do?

PETER VAN ONSELEN: In terms of winning an election, not necessarily good policy, I'd be advising them to appeal to people's self interests. So tax cuts, appeal to them in terms of plans to make housing more affordable, these sort of things, because at the end of the day individuals, young people are no different, individuals tend to be quite self-interested when looking at what the parties are offering and now that we're in the campaign itself, all the people in this room will start to take a bit more notice than they perhaps have up until now with what's on offer and if they see things in it for them, um, then I think that's likely to sway their vote at the last minute when they walk into the booths somewhat undecided.

JENNY BROCKIE: And what do you think will be it in for them? What's your take in a broad sense nationally on the kinds of policies that are going to engage people?

PETER VAN ONSELEN: Well, I think the people are likely to be engaged Firstly, they want to be happy about the sort of post-material views like the environment and so on but, beyond that, the sort of issues that are going to engage them are they comfortable in their working environment? So that's where the debate over WorkChoices, whether you're for or against it will be very important, and beyond that I think that it's some of those issues in a modern world are important. Broadband will be one of them. Both parties have extensive policies on something like that but they just need to communicate the exact detail of how they're different to one another so that they can sort of convince people what's more likely to work for them.

JENNY BROCKIE: And climate change?

PETER VAN ONSELEN: Climate change falls into that post-material category where people are interested in it and concerned about it but that can link in as an economic issue as much as the rest of them. We've even heard tonight some of the talk about how it can be an economic issue. So climate change is important but, again, I think it comes back to self-interest. People are worried about living in a world that doesn't work environmentally and, to that extent, we're worried about climate change.

JENNY BROCKIE: Julian.

JULIAN COLE: I think we've seen everyone's kind of interested in the issues but I think there's a breakdown in communication. Um, as Generation Y, I don't think we're hearing the messages from the politicians and I think that's where the breakdown is. We need to get the communication channels right.

JENNY BROCKIE: How?

JULIAN COLE: We need to go through... I think we need people I think Facebook and MySpace, as much as we've been saying it's a bad channel, I think there is a chance for politicians to come through this channel. But it's through other people. You need to find the people who are the opinion leaders in these communities. There are some people here who are really interested in the issues and if you get those people starting to talk to other people, I think that's the key, because we're going to be more persuaded by what our mates say than by a politician just saying the message.

JENNY BROCKIE: Ariadne.

ARIADNE VERMON: I think these points about listening to young people is incredibly important. The current Federal Government used to have a minister for youth but not anymore, used to have a parliamentary secretary for youth but not anymore, and there's a very small round table now of 30 young people who are suppose to represent all of young people's views. In the UK, youth participation is a basic fundamental strategy that's brought across all agencies of government, that young people's experiences and views are the everyday function of government. So I think a future government needs to remake that commitment to listening to young people and making good policy by taking their views into account.

JENNY BROCKIE: We are going to have to leave it there. I'd like to thank you all very much for joining Insight tonight. We'll be watching how you vote. We'll keep in touch with you, actually. It will be very interesting to see how it goes. Thanks for your time and that is all for this week. I should mention again that we were keen to have the sitting Liberal member for Moreton, Gary Hardgrave, involved in tonight's Insight but at the last minute he decided against it.