From a saxophone-playing bisexual Liberal to a university student who fell in love with politics at eight: Meet the 'millennial' candidates battling for seats at this federal election
- A crop of young millenial politicians is running in the upcoming federal election
- Australians will head to the polls on May 18 to decide the federal parliament
- There are 120 candidates across the political parties aged under 35-years-old
A new generation of young political hopefuls are eager to shake things up in Canberra as they campaign for a seat at this month's federal election.
The candidates, some as young as 19, range from a saxophone-playing bisexual running for a Liberal seat to a Labor candidate who fell in love with politics at eight.
Among some of the issues at the forefront of their campaigns are employment and wages, housing affordability, the environment and equal rights for minority groups.
There are 120 candidates across the spectrum of political parties running for a seat in next weekend's election that are aged under 35, according to the ABC.
Emerald Moon is running for the Greens in Queeensland, at just 24-years-old she is one of a new crop of young politicians
Eric Kerr from Victoria is just 25-years-old, the hospitality worker is running for the seat of Indi
Nadia Clancey was born in 1986 and is running for Labor in the seat of Boothby
Millenials are the generation generally defined as those who were born from 1981 until the year 2000.
Labor has 23 candidates, the Coalition has 22, and the Greens have the most number of young candidates standing for their party at 50 under the age of 35.
One such young candidate is Emerald Moon who is running for the Greens in Queeensland.
The 24-year-old has been nominated for the safe Liberal seat of Bowman, in Brisbane's south-east.
Housing is at the forefront of her campaign, saying she identifies with the vast number of people her age who are struggling to own their own homes.
'Anyone who has ever struggled to pay rent or hasn't been listened to by a politician regardless of what age they are, I also have a connection with them and they will understand why I am running,' she told the ABC.
She says she is also keen to bring diversity to Parliament.
'I was always passionate about the environment and social justice but I didn't see people who looked like me in parliament,' she said.
Another candidate is Jacqui Munro who is the second youngest female running for the Liberal Party.
Declan Steele's interest in politics was sparked at eight years old when he saw an ad for former prime minister Kevin Rudd
Saskia Gerhardy is a passionate environmentalist and is running for the Labor Party in the seat of Mayo
She is running for the seat of Sydney against Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek.
Among her methods for drumming up votes has been playing songs on her saxophone at pub trivia nights.
'As a young 28-year-old, bisexual woman who hasn't always toed the party line … It has never prevented me from engaging with ideas in the Liberal Party,' she said.
Labor's candidate for Mayo in South Australia is Saskia Gerhardy - a recent graduate of the University of Adelaide with an honours degree in environment and evolution.
The environment, education, and healthcare are at the forefront of her agenda.
Declan Steele, 19, is running for the Liberal seat of Mackellar in Sydney's northern beaches for the ALP.
His interest in politics began at the age of eight when he saw an advertisement featuring former prime minister Kevin Rudd and thought he looked nicer than John Howard.
He is running on a platform of housing affordability.
Eric Kerr, 25, has worked in hospitality as a barista and usher but served as a city councillor at the age of 18 and now wants to try his hand running for the seat of Indi in Victoria.
The Labor candidate is one of the youngest candidates standing at the 2019 election.
Australian voters have a week of campaigning left before they head to the polls on May 18.
Australian born Shireen Morris is a law graduate and is running for the seat of Deakin, her parents are of Indian and Fijian-Indian heritage
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