All credit to the Liberal party for attempting to appeal to young voters in the seat of Franklin in Tasmania, but we’re not sure this YouTube clip from candidate Bernadette Black will do the trick.
The two-minute appeal sees Black open with the line, ‘Hey there rockstar!’ with Florence and the Machine’s The Dog Days Are Over playing in the background. She goes on to issue a statement to young students about working a casual shift to afford the “small mercies in life, like Maccas or a late night pizza”.
Black has amassed a number of significant accomplishments herself at a young age. The Barnardo’s Australian Mother of the Year for 2009, founding Director of the Brave Foundation, councillor, BraveHearts ambassador, registered nurse, small business owner and mother of three has also written a memoir of her experiences as a 16-year-old mother.
As the Liberal party’s state director Sam McQuestin said on announcing Black as the candidate: “Bernadette’s rich life experience means that she understands the many pressures the people of Franklin are contending with on a day-to-day basis.”
So will this video appeal to young voters swing the vote her way?
“You look like the kind of person who is fun to be around. You’re a hard worker too, so why is it that you have so much on your plate right now,” she asks in the video.
“Movies with mates are becoming less and the big bad world is starting to creep in when study, work and resumes start to take over. You secretly dream of playing at a much higher level but the distractions and self-sabotages seem to keep popping up like some kind of secret power in the universe is trying to stop you from being the amazing leader that you know in your heart you are totally capable of being.
She ends by saying she’d love to learn about your big dream and that the Liberal party’s available to offer “hope, reward and opportunity”.