Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the beginning of August I held my second annual Fisher Schools Debating Competition, kindly hosted by last year's winners, Chancellor State College, in Sippy Downs. This competition is designed to encourage our local young people to engage with the big issues facing Australia and to help develop critical-thinking skills for their futures. It was inspiring to see how passionate and engaged students on the Sunshine Coast really are and how far this year's repeat contestants have grown in confidence over the past 12 months. Seven teams from local schools competed for the opportunity to prepare the following speech for me to read out here in the House. Helping me to judge the debates were WorldChangers Global founder Jak Hardy and senior lecturer in politics and international relations at the University of the Sunshine Coast Dr Shannon Brincat. I thank them both.

The individual prize for the best researched speech was awarded to Lucy Gillespie, from Chancellor State College. Reuben Tauerner, of finalists Pacifc Lutheran College, was given the award for delivering the most parliamentary performance, while his classmate Michael Hewitt was awarded the most persuasive speech. Finally, I am pleased to report that, after another very strong performance, Chancellor State College won the overall competition for a second time. The following speech was therefore written by Chancellor's team of Mia Seefeld, Lucy Gillespie, Kate Frankish and Mitchell Agnew. While I must stress that I don't necessarily endorse all of the propositions put forward in the following speech, I welcome the contribution to the debate and the passion with which it was written. It says:

When faced with a fork in the road which road do you choose? Freedom of speech is an integral part of our democracy, where people like us can have our voice heard. But this right is something we have to use carefully and respectfully.

The democracy of our nation can go down one of three roads.

We can choose to go the way of China—an authoritarian led and hostile political environment; we could go the way of the USA where powerful lobby groups define policy; or we can choose to forge our own path, a path that speaks for all Australians, progressing us to a new level of national cohesion. We can walk to the beat of our own drum, leaving a trail of progress behind.

Freedom of speech is an important pillar in the shrine of democracy that our nation has fought so long to uphold. But this freedom of speech comes with responsibility. As teenagers we look at the protests happening at the moment with a querying eye. We have seen adults glue themselves to roads in order to convey their message—mimicking tantrum-like behaviour. They are protesting real issues but their end goal is unclear. Disrupting the lives of people who have no role in solutions seems selfish.

While we all have a role in protecting our environmental future, we have to be careful to ensure our message is reaching the right people, not negatively impacting on people who may be our allies. The way people practice their freedom of speech needs to be done carefully and respectfully and it seems at the moment, many Australians have forgotten this.

Freedom of speech, in the negative sense, is often associated with rallies, violent protests and social media rants. It doesn't have to be. As teenagers (and effective debaters) we have learned that to get what we want we need to be able to compromise and hear both sides of the story, build our arguments and confidently present the stronger case, not bully those who oppose us into action. We have to show respect.

Being respectful is something many people struggle with when we can hide behind a screen and give our unfiltered opinion. With freedom of speech comes responsibility, the responsibility to be respectful when exercising our right to give our opinion. Blaming people isn't going to get us anywhere. Shoving opinions down others' throats isn't going to move us forward.

Carefully constructed rhetoric and respectfully persuasive arguments have much more power than bullying, ranting and disrupting the lives of others.

We are at a fork in the road and what we do here is critical in shaping our nation. Let's choose to forge our own path and create a nation where freedom of speech is an important part of our democracy, used carefully and respectfully.

To the students of Chancellor State College I say congratulations, a fantastic speech. It's no wonder they won the competition, and I'm very, very proud of them.