Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As members of parliament, we of course represent our voting constituents. But there are also thousands of people within our communities who don't get to vote and we are also their voice in federal parliament. It really matters to me what the young people of Hotham believe, even though it's not quite their time to have a vote. Recently, I launched the Hotham Writing Prize. It's a way that my team has devised to make sure that we understand the concerns of young people in Hotham and that we're able to represent those to the federal parliament.

We invited students from all over Hotham to send a letter or essay to me which addressed an issue that was very important to them as a young Australian. I also asked them to make sure that they talked to me about the things that they believed government could do to address their concern. The entries we received were of an incredibly high standard, which I think speaks to the excellent schools that we have right across Hotham and also to the very clever young people that I'm honoured to represent in this parliament.

There were two really clear themes that came out of the things that young people spoke to me about this time. The first of those was the desperate urge they have to get this parliament to recognise the threat of climate change and to put in place real plans that will help us see our country do the responsible thing and make sure that we avert a disaster that, for these young people, is something that they're going to have to live within their adulthoods. The second issue that was most important to them was about mental health, something that has really come up for a lot of young people in particular because of the issues they've been subjected to throughout COVID lockdowns.

I want the House to join with me in congratulating Markus Baumgartner of East Bentleigh Primary School. He was this year's junior winner of the Hotham Writing Prize. He wrote an amazing piece to me about climate change. One of the things that I loved about Markus's piece was that he talked about real solutions—real things that he believes the Australian government can do to address this very important challenge.

I also want to congratulate Rion Morgan of Mazenod College, who was the senior winner of the Hotham Writing Prize. Rion wrote to me about the really pressing concern he sees around mental health and also talked about something which I think is really interesting: his generation of young people is probably the first generation of Australians who are able to have a really open conversation about mental health issues they're facing.

I also want to congratulate two additional students who were special commendation winners: Sienna Leopold from Oakleigh Primary School, who wrote an incredibly thoughtful piece about violence against young women; and Hector Rivas Turner from Huntingdale Primary School, who wrote to me about climate change.

A lot of people in the public realm say that young people don't care about politics. In my experience as a local member, nothing is further from the truth. I'm so proud of the young people who I represent in parliament and I want to thank each and every one who took the time to put pen to paper and write to me about something that really matters to them as members of my community.