Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Infrastructure) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In my first year in this place, I conducted a roundtable of student leaders in my electorate. It was so successful that I have done one every year. This year, a few weeks ago, I conducted my seventh annual Whitlam student roundtable. It was an ended by over 65 students from across the electorate, including: Albion Park High School; Illawarra Christian School; St Paul's International College; Illawarra Sports High; Dapto High; Kanahooka High School; Lake Illawarra High School; Corpus Christie; St Joseph's; and Oxley College.

The main issues discussed were climate change and the desire that we take real action now to avoid their generation having to take extreme action to turn things around. They were very concerned about affordable housing—whether they were aspiring to rent or own a house, they want to ensure that they'll have access to the same benefits that their parents do. There was a lot of discussion about same-sex marriage and the postal vote. It would be fair to say there wasn't a lot of support in the room for the postal vote, but there was a lot of support in the room for us to change the law. They didn't see what all the fuss was about. Transport in the Illawarra and the Southern Highlands and the access to entertainment were consistent themes, as were employment opportunities with decent wages within the regions.

If I could summarise the sentiment, there was enormous hope for their future, and they want their elected representatives to focus on the things that will help them realise that hope.