Chris Crewther (Dunkley, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the chair of the foreign affairs and aid subcommittee, today I want to raise with my colleagues the wonderful work done by the Oaktree foundation, Australia's largest youth-run aid and development organisation. In the last sitting week before the winter recess, I met with representatives from Oaktree, who represent more than 180,000 voices who believe that poverty is fundamentally unjust and are determined to do something about it. Through consultation sessions with young Australians around the country, Oaktree put together their Collective Future report entitled 'Young Australians and their vision for foreign policy'. The report emphasises the importance of the involvement of young people and their perspectives, as well as the values identified through the consultation process that young people believe that foreign policy should consider, including equality, partnership and community, transparency, empathy, compassion, open-mindedness and sustainability.

As the youngest member in the House of Representatives, I especially commend Oaktree for their work in ensuring that young Australians have the opportunity to present their views and to contribute to the ever-dynamic area of foreign policy. This is an area that I have long had a particular interest in, and I am thrilled they are enabling other young people to stand up and have a voice in the development and execution of Australian foreign policy.