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 politically unengaged student, about voting for the first time.

Twenty-year-old Talia D’Agostino is a first-time voter studying a Bachelor’s in Sport and Exercise Science at La Trobe University. Outside of her studies, she works two jobs and spends her time training for the basketball court. Talia says she has very little interest in politics and doesn’t see herself becoming involved in the future.

Let’s put it into sports terms. You’re either a basketball person or you’re not. Do you feel as though you’re a political person or not?

I think I’m not. I think it’s good to know what’s going on, but you don’t need to be like a full political fan, in my opinion.

How prepared are you to vote in the upcoming election?

Not prepared at all. I would have no idea. Honestly, I don’t know who I’m voting for as of right now.

Will you do any research leading up to the election?

Honestly, I just listen to what’s on the news with the time that I have and then what some of my family members talk about, and things like that. But probably no, I won’t research into it.

Do you get any political info from social media? Does that come up on your feed?

Rarely. Really rarely, like limited. I’d read it, but I wouldn’t click the links to do any further research about it.

Are any of your friends or family particularly politically inclined, or is it just passing comments from them?

Yeah, just passing comments. Sometimes it can come up on the news, and then, for example, Mum will be like, ‘forgot about voting coming up’. Just picking with the information that’s provided, what they talk about, they don’t really do the research either.

Do you remember if you voted in the council elections?

I know I’ve only voted once for something. I’d say it’s that, but I can’t remember.

Did you feel confident voting in the council election?

Pretty confident. I did it with Mum the first time and just picked based on conversations that I’ve had with people and things I’ve heard, and picked who I think would be the best candidate. Confidently picked who I thought and just kept going on with life, I guess.

If you were looking for more information on who to vote for, where would you go?

Either research, like google it, and go into the political side of it. And then, ask people who might be more into that kind of stuff. There’s definitely people at uni that I know are quite into that political side of things. I wouldn’t have any other ideas.

What is it about Australian politics that doesn’t interest you?

I don’t know. I’ve just never been that involved with it. We’ve never been into it, but because we have to vote, we just go with what we think. No reason, just the way I’ve been brought up.

If you didn’t legally have to vote, would you?

Yes and no. No, because I don’t know if I care that much, but then yes, because that’s the rules of life and living, and you know, it would probably put me in a situation where it’s like I didn’t vote, so could that put me in jeopardy in my future?

As a young person, what could politicians do to interest you more?

I feel like politics are more targeted to – well, it’s targeted at everyone – but like, coming from turning 18 and being able to vote, I didn’t have any idea until I had to vote.

I feel like, maybe, at uni, we have pop-up things, but people don’t look at that. Maybe we could have someone come into class for 10 minutes and say, like, this is what’s coming up.

We don’t speak about it at basketball cause it’s all basketball-oriented, but maybe at uni, things like that, someone who has more experience in that kind of field, could be like this is what’s coming up and you guys need to vote cause you’re coming of age.

Do you feel that politicians care about the same issues as you?

If you had someone come into a class or something, maybe some of us will actually listen. Whereas in my day-to-day life, I’m not into politics because I’ve got no idea about it. Even family, we’ve never been into it because we don’t have the knowledge.

Like Mum owns the house, and inflation and things like that, she has to pay attention to because things like that will probably affect her. But then again, it’s like, yes, it’s affecting me, but how much is it affecting me? Not really.

Do you feel like your vote matters?

Yes and no. No, because I’m just one of those people in the world. In Australia, in Victoria. But then yes because you are picking someone because you’re picking someone to make decisions for your state or country.

Do you think politicians would benefit from tailoring their campaigns to young voters and the issues they care about?

Yes and no again. Yes, cause like, if it does affect people that are aged around me, I feel like the decisions, I wouldn’t know what to do next. No, because it’s just part of living anyway. Like, how would we understand it if we don’t do it?

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

It was pretty straightforward. [I] arrived there and received all the information for each candidate. Then entered the voting area, they got my name, and then [I] voted [for] who I thought was the best candidate. [It] was an easy process and only took a couple of minutes to complete.

I voted the way I did because I believe it met the right policies I would think might need a change, and what might be right in relation to me and my family.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Article: Angelina Giannis, Nykita Pate-Weatherley, Cam Burt and Josh Grobbelaar

Photo: Supplied by Talia and used with permission.