State member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh visited Kyabram P-12 College students to assist them with coming with a bill for Youth Parliament.
Photo by
Jemma Jones
At a round table, deep within the Kyabram P-12 College maze of buildings, state Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh listened as strong-willed teenagers pitched him ideas that could change Victoria’s political landscape.
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It’s not a sight seen very often, but one that has been made possible through the Youth Parliament program.
On Monday, February 10, Mr Walsh paid the seven students at Kyabram P-12 College a visit to help them choose a topic to present as a bill in Youth Parliament.
These young changemakers will address real-world issues through bills presented to Youth Parliament, with the potential to become actual legislation.
It’s an enormous amount of pressure for students, but it was no sweat for the teens who began firing their ideas for bills at the former state leader of the Nationals Party.
The usual teenage reluctance and nerves kept conversation quiet at the beginning of the meeting.
However, when the focus shifted to what they, as regional students, see as issues in the education system, a switch flipped.
The discussion ranged from the scarcity of extracurricular activities in regional areas to pressing concerns about cyber safety, privacy of data in electric cars, and even a proposal to lower the driving age - topics that piqued Mr Walsh’s interest.
State member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh visited Kyabram P-12 College students to assist them with coming with a bill for youth parliament.
Photo by
Jemma Jones
A particularly compelling proposal addressed the absence of foreign language education at Kyabram P-12 College, highlighting a gap in the curriculum that could impact students' future opportunities.
“Access to language is essential...We are part of the world, particularly apart of Asia - kids need the opportunity to learn (a language),” Mr Walsh said.
Mr Walsh said there were many ideas presented that had the potential to become bills for them.
The students will travel to Melbourne in May for a weekend conference, where they will collaborate with peers from various schools statewide to develop legislative proposals.
Subsequently, in July, they will return to formally present their proposed bills before the full assembly of the Youth Parliament.
Mr Walsh gave the students a few tips to qualm the nerves during their pitch.
But, regardless of nerves, he said it’s a good opportunity for them to raise their voices for regional Victoria.
“The topics we talked about probably aren’t such an issue for kids in Melbourne. They’ve probably got a language at their school, they’ve probably got humanity subjects,” he said.
“It’s important Youth Parliament hears from regional students because it puts a different perspective to it.”
