The Port Macquarie News sat down with five passionate young people to discuss the issues that matter to them before Australia counts down the final hours to the 2019 federal election.
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Year 12 students Nicola Di Bona, Nat Francis and Theo Last along with Sally Foster and Dan Underhill all said they were concerned about the both major parties' lack of action on climate change.
"I think I can say with a fair bit of confidence that climate change and the immediate threat it poses to our way of life is probably up in the priorities of young people," Theo said.
"[Locally] there is a bit of talk about climate change but it is not dominating the discourse this election.
"This week Patrick Rudd put a video to the candidates asking their position on climate change and each put forward an answer some were more pleasing than others, but I just think in this electorate the issues dominating talk is the Coffs Harbour bypass and issues focused to the older population in our electorate."
Nat Francis agreed that climate change must be front and centre.
"For me personally, looking at the science of it all, and the urgency with which we see it happening, I think definitely climate change is a big issue," Nat said.
Watch our full youth panel discussion
Other election issues facing young people include housing affordability, education and political corruption, they said.
"For me I found education very hard. I am a very practical learner and so when it came to theorising in the academic subjects was really hard," Dan said.
"I think we should focus more on practical skills needed out of school. I think we should be really making students be aware of the working environment, how to speak to people, how to write a resume and practical skills they will need."
Nicola also wanted more to be done on family and domestic violence and sexual assault.
"One of my main passions is [preventing] domestic violence and sexual assault because they are so prevalent in our society," Nicola said.
"The lowest statistic is that one in six women will be sexually assaulted at some point in their life, so no matter how you look at it, it is a very big problem.
"Even with the #metoo movement there are lots of people who still have trouble discussing sexual assault and sweep it under the rug a bit and so it would be really good to see quite a few reforms so our cultural awareness is reflected in our policies."
The lowest statistic is that one in six women will be sexually assaulted at some point in their life so no matter how you look at it it is a very big problem
- Nicola Di Bona
The general consensus however is to get educated before you head to the ballot box.
"For me before I go and vote I will spend quite a lot of time going through and researching what each party is saying," Nat said.
"I think a lot of young people will vote for who their parents are voting for but if young people actually researched into [the parties] there might be different things that they are passionate about," Sally said.
The 2019 federal election will be held on Saturday, May 18 and Port Macquarie is situated in the federal seat of Cowper.
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