Andrew Broad (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the best parts of my jobs is meeting young Australians and going into the schools and talking to them. And these are things that I tell them: the Parliament belongs to them; this is the people's House; a country gets a government it deserves. I say to them, 'You either have your say or you get involved, and if you get involved you can change the world.' I also say, 'We value your ideas. We are not here to come up with all of the solutions. When you have ideas and solutions, tell us, and then we can pass them on.' I also say that the parliament is at one end of Canberra and the War Memorial is at the other end, commemorating the death of 102,000 Australians. I tell those young Australians, 'Don't waste your vote; it's been bought at a price.'

'Our system of government is very special. I say to them, 'There's only one degree of separation between you, the young Australian, and the leader of the country—and, that is, your federal member of parliament. You can talk to them. They can talk to the Prime Minister. That is a very unique and special thing.' And I say to them that if we get lazy, if we get corrupt, then they could perhaps run and replace us.

When I go out and talk to the schools, I am really inspired by our young Australians. We do a bit of a role play; we have a lot of fun. We implore them that this parliament is for them. Coming up, the Mildura council is putting forward applicants for the youth parliament. This is an opportunity for them to get involved to put forward their ideas. Apply. We want to see young people having their great say about this democracy.