Pat Farmer (Macarthur, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Youth and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

The coalition welcomes the minister’s announcement that she will host the national Youth Summit this year. The Youth Summit offers an excellent opportunity for young Australians from all walks of life to come together to discuss some of the important challenges facing our nation today: our security, our prosperity and our ever-changing world. I am pleased to welcome this new initiative as a continuation of the previous coalition government’s work on supporting and engaging the very best of our youth.

In particular, the Youth Summit builds on the success of the coalition’s National Youth Roundtable program. From 1999-2007 the National Youth Roundtable brought together young Australians from each state and territory and every walk of life to discuss key issues facing Australia’s youth. An annual event, the roundtable was a direct way for young Australians to tell the government what they thought about the issues that really mattered to them. Equally, it was an opportunity for the government to consult the views of a diverse group of young people on important policy issues.

During the roundtable, young Australians would meet with ministers, representatives of the Australian government departments and community leaders to discuss and develop their ideas. Importantly, the outcomes of each roundtable were fed into policy development processes for the federal and state governments and their departments. The National Youth Roundtable offered participants a unique experience. I would urge the government to guarantee the program continues long into the future.

During its time, the coalition supported and established a range of other programs dedicated to encouraging the best of our young people: the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Group, which provided a consultative mechanism for young Indigenous people to provide advice to and discuss issues of importance with the federal government; the Ausyouth Project, which provided services to promote, coordinate and facilitate youth development across Australia; and the source website, a gateway to youth information. These programs, services and resources—just to name a few—also provided entertainment for young people. The Youth Summit offers an opportunity to build on these programs. I encourage the minister to learn from their achievements.

I also offer my support to the decision to include Hugh Evans as co-chair to the Youth Summit. Hugh is an outstanding individual who has done an incredible amount of valuable work in a short space of time. For his achievements he was named the Young Australian of the Year in 2004. He is a shining example of what young people can aspire to and what they can achieve.

The Youth Summit offers the potential for real dialogue with Australians on issues that matter to them—not only to the young people of Australia but indeed to all Australians. I seek assurances from the minister, however, that the delegates to the summit will indeed be drawn from a broad cross-section of Australia’s community. In particular, I ask for more transparency on the selection process for delegates and would welcome information on the steering committee of five young Australians who will make the recommendations on the delegates. I would like to know how the steering committee will be appointed. I would also like to know if they have already been selected and who they are.

The coalition are committed to doing everything that we can to ensure that young Australians are supported by all sections of the government and our community so that they have every opportunity to fulfil their dreams and aspirations. Young Australians need freedom to dream and support from all levels of government to fulfil their dreams. They need to know that, if they have the drive and the determination to make a difference to this country, this government will not place a ceiling over the top of them. This is why I support the call from the minister to host this summit. It is also why I feel it is very important that it does not just turn into a weekend at Kate’s but becomes a springboard for action.

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