Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to acknowledge all the year 12 students in my electorate of Longman who graduated last week and all the year 12s around the country, for that matter. You have completed the first major step in life's journey, and I know that some of you will be excited for what the future holds, whereas, for others, this will be a time of uncertainty and even anxiousness. I encourage you all to embrace that great Aussie spirit of 'Have a go'. Having travelled to other parts of the world, I can say that we truly live in one of the greatest countries on earth, if not the greatest. The US may have coined the term 'the land of opportunity', but I believe we are the country where dreams come true. Whatever your dream is, go for it. For I always say, 'It is better to live with failure then die with regret.'

I don't know what your individual dreams are, but one thing life has taught me is there is more than one road to a destination. You may not achieve the ATAR score you want, but don't let this deter you. There are always other pathways. It's not the setbacks in life that define you; it's the way you deal with those setbacks that will define you. So get up, dust yourself off and go again. Thank you to the schools that afforded me the honour of attending their awards nights in the past few weeks, including Morayfield, Dakabin, Woodford and Bribie Island state high schools, as well as Carmichael College and St Columban's, just to name a few. I was truly inspired by what this generation will bring to our great nation.