Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To celebrate National Youth Week and showcase the talent of the young people in my electorate, I had a youth week roundtable in my Heidelberg office on 16 April. I organised this roundtable so that I could listen to and learn from this very impressive group of teenagers. Eleven student leaders from five local secondary schools came very confidently into my office and spoke to me about the things they thought were important in both our local community and their world. A number of concerns were raised, ranging from local issues, including littering and graffiti, to big picture issues, including climate change, the drought and industrial relations.

One thing the students emphasised was the issue of respect. Sometimes teenagers do not show enough respect to each other. They felt that sometimes teachers and the media also needed to lift their game in showing respect to young people. They continued this theme of respect when talking about littering and graffiti around their schools and communities, showing a lack of respect for the individual as well as for the broader community.

Obesity, both the increasing number of young people with this problem and how overweight people are perceived, was also discussed. These students had obviously thought deeply about this issue and were certainly concerned that many Australians are getting more and more obese and less and less healthy. Another strongly held view was that those very skinny models in fashion magazines should not be held up as a body image to aspire to.

Interestingly in a city electorate, the drought was an issue for these students, and they spoke about it for some time. It is a very genuine concern that they have. They worry that many people do not sufficiently understand what they themselves can do about water conservation. A number of the students are involved in promoting water conservation. It was encouraging to learn how students and their schools are being active in their efforts to reduce water use. Our Lady of Mercy College, for example, held a fete where the money raised went towards the purchase of water-saving devices.

Another big picture issue for the students was for governments to look at reducing carbon emissions and developing technologies and research funding for alternative energy sources. The students were unanimous and had very strong views that they did not want Australia to use nuclear power. These teenagers want people to be active in addressing the challenge of climate change by reducing their energy use and focusing on simple issues as well as making sure that governments pursue these matters. I seek leave to table the names of the students who participated.

Leave granted.