Brett Raguse (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was quite amazed by the words of the last speaker when he referred to the federal government. I think that, maybe, economics is not his strong point. However, my issues today are very much about my community. I listened to the member for Cowan talk about his work with young people, and that is essentially what we as a government are about: providing services to our communities. I am sure every member in this chamber understands the importance of the youth in our communities and of making sure that they have a future. The member for Macarthur raised certain concerns, and I can tell they you were not well founded in economic strategy.

I would like to note that my electorate had a visit from Ms Kate Ellis, the Minister for Sport and Minister for Youth. She talked to a group of young people who represented their communities through the school network. The member for Cowan talked about leadership within our communities and within our schools. I have in my community a very strong group of young people who come together under the banner of the Beenleigh-Yatala Junior Chamber of Commerce. The group comprises about 80 young people from the community and, while it is under the auspices of the Beenleigh-Yatala Chamber of Commerce, it is very much about young people being engaged in the community and understanding the work that we as members of parliament do—whether at the state, federal or local government level.

A number of people organised this forum, in which I am now heavily involved, through some of the chaplaincy services that are provided in our Queensland schools. Frank Barnes—a man who at 83 years of age is sprightly and runs around like a 50-year-old—has committed a lot of time and effort to these young people, in conjunction with Cheryl Taylor.

The work that they do is about, as I said, bringing those young people together for a purpose. As federal members, we always look for ways to better engage with our community groups. When we have community groups that want to engage with their elected representatives it makes it much easier for us to talk about a whole range of issues. I would like to make mention of the participation of the schools that support this particular network. We have the Beenleigh State High School, Windaroo Valley State High School, Trinity College, Canterbury College, Loganlea State High School and Rivermount College. There are also particular employment groups involved. One is known as the Indigenous Extreme Team and another is Beenleigh Adult Education. They are working together in terms of services for young people and making young people aware that there are ways in which they can engage and get policy issues on the table so that I as a federal member am able to come into this chamber and proudly espouse the values, concerns and priorities of the youth of my community.

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