Welcome to Two Views, a new(s) segment where – you guessed it! – we get two views on a hot topic.

This week it's the FEDERAL ELECTION.

A few days back, former Prime Minister Paul Keating said there have been “no big ideas” in Australian politics in a quarter of a century.

With that in mind: What’s one big thing you’ll be thinking about as you walk in to vote this weekend?

Dan

Policy and investment dedicated to young people's mental health.

Next to the environment, I think this is the biggest thing on our generation’s mind – quite literally. These stats from Beyond Blue paint a pretty grim picture (suicide is the leading killer of Australians aged 15-24)

Some reassurance can be found in this year’s Budget, which included a $373 million allocation to Headspace over the next few years, plus $5.2 million over four years to look into the excessive rate of suicide in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

An

Policies around climate change and the environment.

It feels bad to admit, but this year will be the first that I’m taking voting seriously – in the sense that I’m doing my research on which party’s policy focuses more on battling the climate crisis.

There’s mass coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef, rising gas emissions from coal mining and gas fracking in Australia, the threat of extinction for 1 million animal and plant species…

Other countries, like the UK and Ireland, have declared a state of climate emergency and their governments have implemented tangible goals and milestones to reduce their impacts on the environment.

Australia needs to stop acting like climate change isn’t affecting us, just like how my generation needs to stop acting like politics doesn’t matter. Do your research and make your vote count, ppl!