"He said there was no evidence young people would become more engaged with the political process if the voting age was lowered, and young people had no more politic al knowledge now than they did two decades ago"

I'm not sure about this statement - I'm thinking it must be heavily covered in the new curriculum, because all of my kids seem to have a pretty good understanding of it - 

but if it's not in the curriculum (and I mean extensively) then if they lower the age, then it needs to be, because I do agree with the article where it says these kids have no life experience (although how many houses etc have most 18 year olds had?)

If they lower the age though, I can see a whole new target audience for the politicians to target to "attract votes". Ie - "vote for me and I will increase your youth allowance, or........"

That makes me wonder if it's just a doorway to create a whole new generation of sense of entitlement for government assistance. because, I wonder how many 16 year olds will really look to the long term, or the big picture, with the promise of a few extra dollars "for free" in their pocket today.