Above video: The Frant - Climate change's generational gap.

As the election looms ever closer, a poll exclusive to The Feed has revealed that - when it comes to Australia’s future - even Baby Boomers think young people aren't listened to.

Conducted by the Australian Futures Project, a non-partisan, non-profit organisation with the mission of ending short-termism in Australia - the poll asked 1,168 Australians two questions;

Who gets the best deal from Government in Australia right now? How much say do people aged 18 to 24 have in big decisions affecting Australia’s future?

Let’s break it down.

It’s official, even Boomers think they have it best

Breaking it down by generation shows that across the board, all generations think that Baby Boomers have it easiest at the moment.

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This includes Baby Boomers themselves - the largest group of Boomers (31 percent) agreed that they have the sweetest deal from the government.

“This new poll shows just how disconnected the political parties are from young Australians. A majority of Australians of all ages believe that the benefits flowing from government have been disproportionately captured by one generation, the Baby Boomers,” Ralph Ashton, Executive Director of the Australian Futures Project told The Feed.

It’s high time the political parties updated their ideologies to be relevant to the 21st Century, not the 20th, and compelling to all generations, not just the Boomers.

It’s only when the responses split by political leaning did anyone say that a generation other that the Boomers has it best right now.

Twenty-seven per cent of responders that identified as Liberals said the Gen Y has it best from the government right now. But even then, 27 per cent of Liberal voters also said that Baby Boomers have it the best.

Politics doesn't listen to young people

When asked how much say young people get in what Australia’s future will look like the results were a resounding - not very much.

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The largest group of Baby Boomers (39 per cent) said that they thought young Australians have not enough say in Australia’s future.

A whopping 74 per cent of people under 25 said that they felt they didn’t have a voice when it came to the direction Australia is heading.

The question is, will younger Australians respond by ramping up their civic courage to hold politicians to account for the future they're creating?

“I expect they will, given what’s at stake from the continued failure of successive Federal and State governments on all sides to tackle seriously the big issues facing the country,” Ashton said.

The only subset of responders who disagreed with the majority was, again, Liberal voters - 32 per cent of which said that young people have “too much” of a say.

What concerns do different generations have?

The Australian Futures Project have dug deep into what makes the “Perfect Candidate” for Australian voters.

As a part of their research, over 50,000 Australians were presented with 18 issues and asked to select the three that mattered most to them.

The results revealed what’s really at the forefront of the different generation’s minds when heading into elections.

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Global warming and climate change rank as the second and third more pressing concern for Gen Y and Gen Z respectively.

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Gen X was the only subset with both global warming and reducing crime in their top concerns.

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Unsurprisingly, “Australia’s ageing population” was up the top of the list of concerns for those born before 1960.

Check out the concerns of voters broken down to a state level here.

What does this mean for Saturday’s election?

This weekend’s federal election hinges on young people more than ever as AEC records show that youth enrolment is at an all time high of 88.8 per cent.

Young people (15-34) also represent the largest generational gap, with 27.2 per cent of Australia's falling into this age bracket according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Ashton points towards the results of the poll as an indicator of the direction of Australian politics.

"Whoever wins on Saturday should brace themselves for a more active younger generation, with increasing political engagement and decreasing patience. The climate strikes are just the beginning.”

If you’d like to learn more about what Australians think makes the Perfect Candidate head here.

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