In the lead-up to the federal election, upstart spoke to six first-time voters from all walks of life – from politically engaged activists to uninterested students – to understand how they felt about the election and their relationships with politics. Despite people’s differences, we found that many people don’t feel included in politics, regardless of their desire to be.

In May, these six people voted alongside 870,000 newly enrolled voters. We asked them questions both before and after their first time. Here’s what they said. This time we spoke to a 20-year-old, who already works in politics, about voting for the first time.

Politics has always been important in Bridgette Evans-Barker’s life. She was born into a politically engaged family, with a a former Labor MP as a grandmother. Her experience working in a state electorate office and her current role as a Labor staffer placed her in a unique position this election.

What does your day-to-day life look like? 

I work at Andrew Giles’s electorate office. It pretty much looks like going to work, checking my emails, then answering phones and managing calls. I’ve worked at this job since May 2024. Before that, I worked in a state electorate office for like six months.

What does your job involve?

Handling constituent inquiries. So that means, you call us, I would probably pick up the phone, and I would ask you for some details. Then I’d be able to email whichever relevant department. my role is primarily kind of constituent-focused.

What drew you to this position?

I’ve always been interested in politics. My grandma was a state politician for a really long time, probably 30 years, so I’ve always been in a political family.  When I was looking for jobs, I would email around to various members of parliament and see who responded.

Would you describe yourself as a politically active person, given your current role? 

Within the general community, I’m a very politically active person. Coming into this election, I already know who I’m voting for and I’m already confident in that. And I think a lot of people in my position wouldn’t be as confident.

What have you learnt about Australian politics and democracy as a whole during your time in the role?

I’ve learnt an incredible amount about how elections are run, like even, you know they think of everything, like even what order the names go on the ballot. I know about a lot of the kinds of internal processes in government as part of my role.

I think that a lot of people, especially those who don’t feel confident in our political system, don’t see how hard the people in Canberra work.

What issues matter to you this election?

Being a young person, education matters. My HECS debt is 22 grand, I think that is an insane amount for someone who has done practically no study.

I also have endometriosis, so women’s health is another issue that I care extremely deeply about. There are a lot of things that I think no party does very well, and I think, in general, aged care is one of those things. I think that our current government has done a really good job, but I think that there are still a lot of improvements to be made.

How have you found yourself politically aligned with the Labor party?

I was born into a Labor family, we’re working class, we’re all union members. My grandma was a Labor MP. I genuinely believe in Labor party values, and I’ve always been aligned with them.

How much of your time is spent educating others on politics and political issues? 

I’m always subconsciously thinking about politics, but in terms of educating other people, I don’t even consciously do it. I kind of just do. It’s just natural for me now. I think I’m always educating people subconsciously.

If we see that there is a large number of people who are gonna vote Liberal, then we just leave them be. The people who matter [to the campaign] are the people who said, ‘oh I don’t know, I love the Labor Party, but the Greens also have some really good policies on paper.’ Those are the people we focus on.

You’ve just voted for the first time. Tell us about your experience.

My experience voting was exactly how I was expecting it to be, I went to a booth halfway through my 7:30am-10:30pm day of helping at a booth across town, so I was in a bit of a rush. I would’ve liked to have more time to properly appreciate the service I was doing for my community, but I didn’t have time to properly appreciate it.

I’m just grateful that I live in a society where I’m privileged enough to have a real say about the people who represent me. It’s the highest honour and greatest privilege that each and every person in our society has.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Article: Alex Osborne, Charlie Jones, Ella Burns, Harvey Constable and Saskia Domanski

Photo: Supplied by Bridgette and used with permission.