Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've had the privilege of visiting Currans Hill Public School on a number of occasions, including when it opened, so it was wonderful to welcome their wonderful staff and students to parliament earlier today. I was so impressed by their good behaviour, intelligent questions and general interest in the role of politics and parliament in our society and, in particular, our electorate of Macarthur that I thought they deserved a speech about them. All their questions were terrific, and they offered an insight into what the leaders of tomorrow are thinking. Some stand-out questions were: Can you help ensure public schools get more funding? Can you help get more green spaces and play spaces for our community? Can you do better for our environment? A particular favourite of mine was: can you tell Woolworths to make their paper bags much stronger? All of these questions I strongly agree with, particularly the Woolies bag question, which received strong applause! These questions show that they understand the issues that are affecting their households and their wider communities, and I'll continue to raise the issues that they spoke about with me in parliament and with our leaders. I encourage my colleagues to make the time to meet with their schools, if they're visiting parliament, and to take the time to hear what their students and staff have to say.

I want to also thank the wonderful education team of the Parliamentary Education Office for their dedication and skill in ensuring visiting schools get the most out of their trip to Canberra and for liaising with my office to ensure we can meet with our local schools.