Social media influencers are underrepresented in the Australian parliament, but a new group aims to change that.
The Gen Z Party is hoping to officially become a party later this year, to represent what it believes are the political interests of those born after 1997.
But first it needs to get enough members - and candidates.
Not just anyone can be a party candidate - you need to be an influencer with more than 10,000 followers to be considered.
Australia has a long history of micro parties, such as the Coke in the Bubblers party and the Smokers' Rights party, seeking to change our democracy.
Their smallness means micro parties usually can't sway people away from traditional voting lines, though the Gen Z party hopes its influencer strategy will help it make a mark.
"TikTok influencers are just Gen Z kids who are sharing their life and their perspective with the world," Gen Z Party founder Thomas Dolan told The Feed.
"We get information on TikTok now, on Instagram, sometimes Twitter (now X) but not really. So in this new world, influencers are well placed to understand how news travels. Influencers also know how to speak."
The great part about the influencer model, "is that you have to remain representative of, if not your electorate, at the very least your following," Dolan said.
But what exactly do Gen Zs want?
The party, which blames Australia's problems on Baby Boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964) has ambitious policy ideas such as proposing two Australia Days - one for 'New Australians' on 25 January and 'Old Australians' on 26 January - referring to non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal people respectively.
It wants to decriminalise drugs and table policies to aggressively tackle climate change, which it says is one of the biggest issues for young people.
Free university and TAFE, tax breaks for under-25s and cancelling student debt are all high on the agenda, as Gen Z battles the rising cost of living. The Gen Z Party hasn't published the costings on how this would work.
The party's website reads, "Generation Z has been sacrificed by the Baby Boomers."
"Both the Labor and the Liberal Party have fundamentally failed us, and our planet –
"They protect the interests of the Boomers.
"The Fossils in government must go. Parliament needs to be representative."
Dolan says parliament has been dominated by the "Boomer mindset".
"Politicians are landlords, they've got like two properties. They got their university degree for free. They want house prices to continue going up, because they own all these houses," Dolan said.
But Gen Zs don't, and instead are "swamped in student debt," and "can't get a foothold in the economy," he said.
About 86 per cent of federal politicians own at least one residential property, higher than the 67 per cent of Australians who own property.
Dolan said he doesn't even necessarily want to run for office, he's just setting the party up for others, and a lot of the policies will be refined by the group's members.
This isn't his first political rodeo - in 2022 he ran for the Victorian state seat of Bayswater, receiving 2.2 per cent of the vote.
The party is aiming for state elections first, where the barrier for entry is lower and the party only needs 500 members in each state. Registration as a federal party requires between 1,500 and 1,650 members.
Dolan suggests 'Gen Z allies' like their slightly older predecessors the millenials, might also vote for the party.
They will be essential for the party's legitimacy, Australian National University politics lecturer Mark Hughes told The Feed.
"You're going to have to require a lot of people who are not Gen Z to drop their current identification with a party."
"It's unlikely to happen at the moment because their brand awareness is very low: they need to build that awareness up over time."
He said the party could possibly gain support in ACT, which typically votes progressively, and "can support minor parties".
"We saw with the election of (Senator) David Pocock there's appetite for [independent] ideas."
They're also probably going to need serious money, Hughes said.
Independent ACT senator David Pocock. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
A risk is that the influencers aren't consistently engaging, and not putting in the hours of effort required to engage with voters, Hughes said.
"You still need to do the grassroots stuff. You still need to door knock, have events, have meet and greets, have your candidates selected so people can connect with them sooner rather than later."
The party is waiting until later in the year to announce the list of influencers who could join the election campaign frontline.
It's been harder for micro-parties to get elected since the federal government put an end to 'preference farming' for the 2016 federal election.
When Ricky Muir from the Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party was elected to the Victorian Senate with only 1,500 first preference votes, parliament passed a bill changing the Senate voting system to remove the option to vote for a group of candidates all at once.
Voters now need to allocate six or more preferences above the line or twelve or more below the line on the ballot paper.
The unusual micro parties you may or may not remember
The Pirate Party is not made up of seafarers - it advocates for 'a free, open internet and democracy' and have a global presence, with the founding Swedish branch having a candidate elected in 2009.
It was active in Australia from 2008 to 2021, when it joined the Fusion Party, a grouping of the Science Party, Pirate Party, Secular Party, and Vote Planet.
The Sex Party contested many state elections between 2009 and 2017, but deregistered and merged with the Australian Cyclists Party to form Reason Australia.
The Coke in the Bubblers Party was set up by a group of uni students in 2013 but deregistered by the AEC two years later.
The party’s manifesto described it as "a group of young Australians … who want leadership from our representatives instead of schoolyard bickering and promises of Coke in the bubblers before each election".
The Australian Affordable Housing Party failed to win a significant number of votes in the 2022 federal election, despite focusing on a policy area of concern to much of Australia.
Honourable mentions of deregistered parties with unusual or single-issue platforms have been the Yellow Vests, Australian Recreational Fishers Party, The Wikileaks Party, Single Parents' Party, Deadly Serious Party of Australia, Bullet Train for Australia and Drug Law Reform Australia.
How to create a federal political party
To become a political party eligible for the Senate or House of Representatives you need to have between 1,500 and 1,650 members, or at least one member of the party who has already been elected.
A $500 application fee also needs to be paid to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) and a logo needs to be submitted.
The AEC needs to consider and approve the application.
It'll then offer the public a month to submit objections and the party to respond to them.
Barring any further issues the party can be issued to the register and the hard work of winning votes starts.
