Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the best things about being a member of parliament is having the opportunity to hear directly from local people about what matters to them. On Friday last week, I was absolutely delighted to visit the year 11 legal studies class at St John the Evangelist Catholic School in Nowra. After a week of parliament it was refreshing to hear the thoughts and interests of a group of young locals on politics and lawmaking. The class is looking at law reform in Australia, and I was happy to provide them with small books on our Constitution.

The class wanted to know what I thought was one of the most important law reform issues facing our nation. I could think of nothing better than recognition for our Indigenous peoples under the Constitution—absolutely critical and something I think all young people should know about. We talked about why we need to have diverse voices in our nation's parliament, which means there is no one right path to get here. The class had some head-scratches for me too, like what was the weirdest thing I had experienced in the parliament, and what did I really think about the Prime Minister? The curious minds of the young always come out with things you don't expect. I would like to thank all the students and their teacher for an engaging morning and for taking an interest in what we do here every day. I am sure that I will see these young people leading our community before too long.