Latest news with #CharlotteWalker
First Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- First Post
Australia's Gen-Z Senator Wins Elections Using Minecraft and Livestreams Firstpost America
Australia's Gen-Z Senator Wins Elections Using Minecraft and Livestreams | Firstpost America|N18G Australia's Gen-Z Senator Wins Elections Using Minecraft and Livestreams | Firstpost America|N18G Charlotte Walker, 21, becomes one of Australia's youngest-ever senators after winning a surprise seat in South Australia. Campaigning without ads or door-knocking, Walker used livestreams, Minecraft builds, makeup tutorials, and street interviews to connect with young voters. Her digital-first strategy struck a chord, especially with first-time voters, helping her rise from third on the Labour Party list to a seat in the federal parliament. A former union worker, she now prepares for six years in Canberra and hopes to inspire more young women to enter politics. Could this signal a generational shift in campaigning? Watch this report to know more. See More
NDTV
29-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Meet Charlotte Walker, Australia's Youngest Female Senator At 21
Charlotte Walker has made history by becoming the youngest female senator of Australia at the age of 21. Despite being third on the Labor Party's ticket and having the lowest personal vote count among the six elected senators in South Australia, she managed to secure a seat in the Senate. Ms Walker's win was due to a surge in support for the Labor Party in the 2025 federal election, which helped the party secure an additional Senate seat in the state. Her six-year term will begin on July 1, 2025. After the results were announced, she said, "There are a few feelings. Obviously, there's a lot of pressure," reported NBC News, adding that becoming a senator will be a big adjustment for her. Who is Charlotte Walker? Born on May 3, 2004, and raised in Yankalilla, South Australia, Charlotte Walker attended Investigator College in Victor Harbor. Ms Walker was the president of Young Labor and was working at the Australian Services Union when she was selected to run for the Senate. Leon Bignell, the speaker of the House of Assembly, hired Ms Walker to work part-time in his local electorate office after she graduated from high school. As she was third on the ticket, it was difficult for her to win the seat. But she made creative videos on social media and talked about politics and Labor policy while applying makeup, playing the Minecraft video game, and interviewing other young members of the Labor Party. This caught the youth's attention. She addressed topics like the cost of living, student loan debt reduction, and educational access. Louise Miller-Frost, Penny Wong, and Marielle Smith were among the other South Australian Labor candidates she campaigned with. She surpassed the previous record held by Jordan Steele-John of the Western Australian Greens, who was elected in 2017 at the age of 23.
ABC News
29-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
What Australia's youngest senator tells us about the future of politics
South Australian Charlotte Walker is just 21-years-old and she's just become the nation's youngest ever senator. She's taken the sixth Senate spot for Labor in South Australia. She says she hopes to bring "a different perspective" to the Labor Party and admits she has a lot to learn but says she is "not naive." In the 2025 federal election, Gen Z and Millennial voters out-numbered older generations, helping create a landslide of support for Labor. So what does this tell us about the future of politics? And are there enough young people in parliament to ensure their issues are represented? ABC NewsRadio's Sarah Morice spoke with Philippa Collin, a Professor of Political Sociology at Western Sydney University.
New York Post
28-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Australia's new youngest senator elected at 21 with shocking win
A woman who turned 21 on the day of Australia's federal election in May has been declared the nation's youngest ever senator. And like many female candidates who run for election in Australia, Charlotte Walker wasn't expected to win. The former union official won the governing center-left Labor Party's third Senate seat for South Australia state in a complicated rank order voting system. A party's third choice rarely wins. Advertisement 5 Charlotte Walker became Australia's youngest senator elected. AP 5 A woman who turned 21 on the day of Australia's federal election in May has been declared the nation's youngest ever senator. Instagram/james_dimas She had the lowest vote count of the six newly elected senators for the state. The Australian Electoral Commission officially declared the poll Tuesday. The new job will be a 'big adjustment,' said Walker, who starts her six-year term July 1. A federal lawmaker's base salary is more than 205,000 Australian dollars ($133,000) annually. Advertisement 'There's a few feelings. Obviously, there's a lot of pressure,' Walker told Australian Broadcasting Corp. after the results were announced late Monday. 5 Charlotte Walker made Australian history when she became the youngest senator elected at 21 years old. District Council of Yankalilla 'I want to do a good job for South Australians, but I also want to show young people, particularly young women, that this is achievable and this is something that they can do also. I'm also really excited. Not many people my age get to … go to Canberra and have the ability to contribute in the way that I will,' she added. Previous young lawmakers Advertisement Before Walker, the youngest senator was Jordon Steele-John of the Greens party, who was elected for Western Australia state in 2017 at the age of 23. Australia's youngest-ever federal lawmaker was Wyatt Roy, who was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010 at the age of 20. He lasted two three-year terms before he was voted out of his Queensland state seat. 5 Charlotte Walker won the governing-left Labor Party's third Senate seat for South Australia. Instagram/charlotteforthesenate Large swings at elections as occurred May 3 typically bring a larger proportion of women into the Parliament in seats that their parties hadn't realistically expected to win. Often the newcomers lose their seats when votes swing back at the next election. Advertisement Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expects 57% of Labor lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives will be women when the new Parliament first sits on July 22. The proportion of women was 52% during Albanese's first term in government. Australian governments usually lose seats in their second term. Albanese leads the first federal government not to lose a single seat at an election since 1966. Labor is expected to hold 94 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, up from 78 in the last Parliament. Australian National University political historian Frank Bongiorno said unexpected swings can put women candidates into Parliament after seeking apparently unwinnable seats . 5 Charlotte Walker's win was unexpected. AP But Bongiorno said Labor had been working on increasing women's representation since the party introduced a quota in 1994 that stated 35% of candidates in winnable seats had to be female. 'The fact that we now have not 50%, but 57% is partly a function of obviously just the size of the swing, but it is also, I think, very deliberate changes that have occurred within the Labor Party over about 30 years from what was a very male-dominated culture and environment,' Bongiorno said. The odds had been stacked against Walker being elected as her party's third choice in South Australia, Bongiorno said.
South China Morning Post
28-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Australia's youngest-ever senator is 21 – and she wasn't expected to win
A woman who turned 21 on the day of Australia 's federal election in May has been declared the nation's youngest ever senator. And like many female candidates who run for election in Australia, Charlotte Walker was not expected to win. The former union official won the governing centre-left Labor Party's third Senate seat for South Australia state in a complicated rank order voting system. A party's third choice rarely wins. She had the lowest vote count of the six newly elected senators for the state. The Australian Electoral Commission officially declared the poll Tuesday. The new job will be a 'big adjustment,' said Walker, who starts her six-year term July 1. A federal lawmaker's base salary is more than 205,000 Australian dollars ($133,000) annually. 'There's a few feelings. Obviously, there's a lot of pressure,' Walker told Australian Broadcasting Corporation after the results were announced late on Monday.
