Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have an unusual presentation to the parliament today, because I rise to talk about an inspiring movement of young Australians dedicated to empowering all young people to contribute to public policy, an inspiring movement of young Australians seeking to go beyond the traditional left-right paradigm and embrace the marketplace of ideas. The Left Right Think Tank is Australia’s first think tank of young minds. As the House would agree, young people are increasingly passionate and we all have a responsibility to support and encourage those that represent our country’s future.

As this House would agree, in essence the Left Right Think Tank wants to facilitate a relationship between the policymakers and the youth of our country. It wants to encourage these voices of young people to be heard and their ideas to be considered, and, most importantly, it wants to give them the confidence to create change. Today in the parliament we have Thom Woodroofe, who is the Executive Director. Welcome, Thom. I know that you have been spending the last two days having meetings with the leaders of our country and discussing the ideas of the Left Right Think Tank with those leaders.

Left Right is a unique organisation. Australia has approximately 35 think tanks—or 36 now—but Left Right is entirely composed of young people between the ages of 15 and 25. Think tanks are one of the many largely-overlooked gifts of American thinking to the world of public policy and the consolidation of effective democracy. They are an important element of a healthy democracy and help us, as elected officials of the country, to navigate to the future. Indeed, think tanks contribute a lot to our great democracy. They can help structure the public debate. They can improve the quality of that debate through research. They can produce specific new ideas. They can do things that are too difficult or too complicated for governments or oppositions.

In many ways, though, Left Right is more than a think tank. Left Right wants to not only involve young people in thinking about policy approaches; it wants to involve them in the entire public policy cycle. Accordingly, the organisation seeks to achieve its mission through seven principle areas. These are: developing policy based on sound research across the public policy spectrum; fostering discussion on the greatest challenges of our generation through the community; advocating policy ideals with various stakeholders and across government; promoting a new genre of thinking in the public policy cycle; educating young Australians through various elements and programs; motivating individuals to harness their potential in contributing to public policy debates; and empowering the next generation of leaders by providing them with unique opportunities for development. In doing so it aims to meet the following objectives over the next few years: to reach two-plus million Australians through media and publicity, raising awareness of their work; to engage 20,000-plus young Australians directly through various events, programs and initiatives; and to empower 5,000-plus young Australians through close involvement as members of volunteer staff.

For far too long the ideas debate has been framed within the context of left or of right. What excites me, and what unites the incredibly motivated young volunteers at Left Right, is a great optimism for Australia’s future. What these passionate young volunteers are looking to produce are new ideas for our nation’s future. Indeed, Left Right wishes to encourage public debate where young people can actively be drawn in and readily take part in overcoming the challenges we face as a nation in the 21st century. As they eloquently put it, the challenges we face are great, as are the solutions they have to offer with their ‘hard heads, soft hearts and young minds’. As the country’s elected representatives, we must remember the most powerful force of ideas, talent and energy is the Australian people themselves. Left Right Think Tank embodies that principle, and I certainly commend Left Right Think Tank to the House. I wish them well. I know that they will be eminently successful in what they do because they are the future of our country and they are doing it for the right reasons.