Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to welcome to Parliament House today nine students, one teacher and one parent from Mount Beauty Secondary College, which is in the most beautiful valley in north-east Victoria—the Kiewa Valley. These students have come to Canberra because they have just completed a semester of study of Australian politics. They have learned about how our parliamentary system works, the role of political parties and independents, ideologies and, most importantly, power. Now they are moving into global politics, mostly focusing on globalisation and how we are all interconnected.

They are a dynamic and passionate group and, over lunch, I had the pleasure of asking them what they love about their school. They love the teachers—great news, teachers. They say the teachers are passionate. It is a small school, so there are opportunities for relationships to develop. They said, 'The teachers know us; we are a strong community.' Set in the beautiful upper Kiewa Valley, there are no fences around the school, so it is all open space, underneath the snow-capped mountains of Falls Creek. They love their cross-country skiing under the guidance of a two-time Olympic champion. They love providing support to small local schools to teach them how to do cross-country skiing. They enjoy swimming. They love cultural activities and the ability to go overseas, particularly to Indonesia, and learn how other systems work. Particular congratulations to Jodee and to all at Mount Beauty Secondary College, and thank you to the parents and teachers for the fantastic job you do in providing rural education.