Mr. James Doorley:

We do not have a position on compulsory voting, although I do think we need to do a lot more before resorting to it. I would see that as a last resort when engaging with young people. It is one thing to force people to vote in a compulsory voting system but the danger is that they are going there against their will and will ask why they are doing it. It could be put in place but we have a long way to go in removing the barriers to registration for young people, encouraging young people to vote and supporting the NGOs that are doing that. The Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice did a lot of work in disadvantaged communities by running workshops with groups of people who did not vote and making them understand how decisions were happening at local level. It has to be an option that governments and politicians keep in their back pocket but my initial reaction is that we have to do a lot more to enable, support and encourage citizens to vote before we take that quite drastic measure.