It's common in Melbourne for Green gigs with high-profile bands to sell out. Punters may not leave the venue with a copy of 'Green Left Weekly', but they certainly leave with a message - and entry stamp on their hand saying 'Vote Green'. Take for example the Oscar-winning film When we were kings, a documentary about 'Rumble in the Jungle', the 1974 fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire. There is no way to verify the real proportion of young people who voted and how they voted - it is a secret ballot after all. It's not that young people can't see a future.
Young people are cynical and mistrustful of politicians and politics generally.
They did a survey of Gen-X'ers in the US that found that more people believed in the existence of alien life, than believed that social security would provide for them in their old age. The answer is that all players in the Republic debate must develop new strategies to involve young people in a meaningful way, in real politic. Or not only is the Republic cause lost, but the future of Australian political life looks grim. Some of the R4U strategies were successful, others were not. But the message is that we must work harder to raise the profile of the Republic debate amongst young people and young women if we wish to move forward.