Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our youth are our future and, right now, I'm beaming with pride about five incredible and brilliant young minds from Mackay who I met during their recent trip to Canberra as part of the Young Mayors program. Krystopher Gakowski, Nate Ralph, Rory McPhail, Lily Cheyne and the first-ever young mayor in Mackay, Miss Bridget Wright were all elected through a true democratic process by over 1,400 of their peers.

What an honour it is that the first Local Government Association to pilot this program in Australia was Mackay, in my electorate of Dawson. This program engages students aged between 11 and 17 to represent their peers at local council, to strengthen their community and to deliver real-world projects. Everyone in this room knows that if you want to change the world it needs to be done through a true political and democratic process. And changing the world is exactly what these young students are doing, starting with projects addressing youth mental health and championing better resourced and interactive libraries.

I am proud of these young students, because the future of Australia depends entirely on what our youth can achieve. Well done, and congratulations!