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 with a young person who went straight from high school into the work force.

Zara Mendelsohn is a recent high school graduate working in hospitality. This election she was a first time voter who describes herself as unengaged, but not uninterested. Like many, being surrounded by conflicting views and taught to be cautious of media bias, she finds herself overwhelmed by politics. And although she is curious to learn more, she says she doesn’t know where to start.

Would you say you are interested in politics?

I wish I was. I should know more about it because it affects our world a lot, but I never really felt inclined to inform myself. A lot of my friends would always talk about politics at school, and I would not really know what to say. Because there is so much involved in politics, I never really started researching because it was kind of overwhelming to get into.

Do you avoid political content?

I watch the news sometimes, and obviously, on social media, it comes up. I find myself very sceptical about it because I don’t know. I finished school last year, and I learnt that any type of media you consume is biased. I never know how to form my own opinion because I don’t know if I am being convinced to form that opinion. But I don’t actively avoid it.

How politically engaged is your family?

My dad is kind of politically engaged, but my mum, a bit less. She is voting for the first time. We don’t really have political discussions as a family, which is part of the reason that I am not very knowledgeable about it.

If voting was optional, would you still vote?

Yeah, I would vote because I feel like it is definitely a privilege to, and in lots of countries you can’t vote, and I feel like that is a problem.

What would you change about politics to better interest you?

I don’t know, it feels like every character who is a politician is like an old white man. I don’t feel like there are many people my age in politics. It feels like they are all just a different generation and maybe disengaged from younger people, which is a huge problem because it should relate to everybody.

I wish there was an easier way to find information. I hate the way that social media can take over. I never know how trustworthy their sources are.

Is there anyone in your life who could influence you to be politically engaged?

Most of my friends are at a loss. I have friends who are very passionate about it, but I find it hard to talk to them about it because they try and form my decision rather than just have a conversation. I have talked to my friend, and he was just trying to convince me about why I should vote for the Greens. I found myself agreeing the whole time. But then my dad was talking to me about a conservative view, and I found myself agreeing with that too. There is kind of just like pros and cons that come with any party.

How much do you know about the upcoming election, such as the names of parties and candidates?

Well, I know Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese, but I don’t know what the Greens guy is called. I don’t know many of the independents. So not very much.

Have you enrolled to vote? Did you do it immediately, or were you hesitant to register?

I did not really think about it. I knew it was happening, but I did not really know how to start to enrol to vote. I quickly did it online, but a lot of my friends forgot and were not able to [vote].

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

It was interesting! Maybe even a little anticlimactic… I found my knowledge of parties was limited, which meant I wasn’t sure who to put in the middle range of the ranking system. I knew the party I liked and the two or three I disliked, but I didn’t know anything about the minor parties, which in hindsight I wish I did.

Overall, I found that I wished that I knew about what I was voting for, and it made me realise that although it’s confusing and a lot of effort, I want to be more knowledgeable so that I am more prepared next time around!

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 Zara and used with permission.