Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to commend the many students and young people in the electorate of Robertson who entered the Raise Our Voice Australia competition this year to write a speech to be read by members in this chamber. Many students from the Central Coast wrote great and outstanding speeches. I want to congratulate each and every one of them for the time and effort they put in. I hope to be able to read more of them into the Hansard in the coming weeks because they really do reflect a disparate, diverse but very considered range of views on Australia, our future and global affairs.

Today I would like to read this speech of John Thomas, 19 years of age, from the electorate of Robertson. His speech begins: 'Australia, it's my home, my country. Each and every single person on this island continent for better or worse is family—one people yet many. We yell and we scream but in the end we care.

What is my vision for Australia over the next 20 years? In the distant horizon of time's infinite possibilities I dare to see to grasp for a greater country. I dare to see the gap closed. I dare to hear no more lies broadcast over TV, radio lines. I dare to speak, debate and celebrate change. I dare to dream of a nation united, despite our different faces and races. Our coat of arms, a kangaroo and an emu, are animals that race forward not back. Let's not forget that. Yet like a dingo that can turn its head 360 degrees, let's not forget our past. Australia's scars and sins are overbearing and vast. Economics, politics and climate have all been divisive. I dare to pray we share more than our opinions one day.'

Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You won't hear my words in the chamber today but the words of a young woman from my electorate, a young woman who wanted her voice heard and whose voice should be heard. In this inaugural Youth Voice in Parliament Week, organised by Raise Your Voice Australia, these are the words of Reya, aged 15.

Twenty years into the future, I would like to see an Australia where women and others who are cast aside are heard and represented in parliament and other leadership roles in a way that encourages others like them, instead of scaring them. I would like to see an Australia that is not afraid to battle climate change at its core. An Australia that changes the way we see migrants and refugees. One that stops judging, dismissing and is aware of the diversity and vibrance they bring.

Twenty years into the future, I would like to see more diverse representation in the Australian government and media that showcases a more modern Australia. An Australia that is a beacon of support for the world, a beacon that shows the world that we are the centre of change. Despite our isolation geographically from the world, we can still be a beacon that displays change.

Twenty years into the future, I would like to see an Australia that no longer thrives on the suffering of the earth. One that is not starting the process of using renewable resources but one that has been for years. One that understands that to secure the future we have to start now.

So speaks Reya; she said it all.