Young men made a ‘historic shift’ to Trump and the right in the US election. Will it happen in Australia?

# Young men made a ‘historic shift’ to Trump and the right in the US election. Will it happen in Australia?

By national social affairs reporter [Isabella Higgins](https://www.abc.net.au/news/isabella-higgins/7079282)

# In short:

More than half a million gen Z voters will cast their ballots for the first time at the upcoming federal election.

There’s been a trend in other democracies that’s seen young men drifting to the right, while young women move to the left.

So, who will this new wave of voters, defined by the internet and algorithms, throw their support behind?

Oliver Griffiths remembers the moment, and the man, that got him interested in politics.

“My introduction to politics was in 2016 with Donald Trump,” the 20-year-old said.

“I was watching TV, and he just came out, and told everybody what was going wrong.

>”I thought that was a really good value to have in a politician, someone who says what they’re thinking.”

Oliver lives in Sanctury Point on the New South Wales South Coast and is now involved in Liberal Party politics in his swing electorate of Gilmore.

He believes he’s more right-wing than his parents and proudly identifies as a conservative.

Young men in other democracies have been embracing right-wing, populist leaders, a trend seen in the most recent elections in the United States, Germany, Poland and South Korea.

In Australia, some data now suggests there is an emerging gender divide amongst the country’s youngest voters.

“Australia does mirror some of the gender gap trends, but with a bit of a twist,” said Intifar Chowdhury, a lecturer in government at Flinders University.

Gen Z men, born between 1996 and 2012, were more likely to vote for the Coalition compared to their female peers, Dr Chowdhury found in her analysis of a post-election study from 2022.

But the survey also found that, overall, gen Z is more progressive than previous generations; only 26 per cent backed the Coalition, with 67 per cent backing either the Greens or Labor.

“Among the younger generations, the [gender] gap is increasing, but both men and women are moving to the left,” Dr Chowdhury said of the data from the Australian Election Study compiled after each poll by leading universities.

“The gender gap is kind of widening, but still in the left — not necessarily men and women going in different directions like we see in the US.”

This election will see hundreds of thousands of young Australians cast their ballot for the first time, and experts say it’s difficult to predict which party they’ll back.

I hope gen z men never get laid.

What a waste of a generation, fucking dipshits

At this stage i assume any P plater driving a lifted dual cab ute is voting for a right wing party.

That said even i think that the ALP does spend too much time talking about the gender pay gap in Australia and this is not exactly a helpful talking point for men who might be on the fence.