Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This week, Parliament House will once again host the winners of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's excellent Heywire competition. Tonight I would like to acknowledge two South Australian winners who live in the regional South Australian federal electorate of Barker. Heywire invites young regional and rural Australians aged 16 to 22 to enter short stories that are typically about their own experiences, family or close friends, or things they have observed within their regional town or city. The presentations can provide a unique insight for Australians on issues and current events such as mental health, racial discrimination, immigration, unemployment, sexism and domestic abuse within regional Australia.

Submissions are entered in a variety of formats: text, video, audio and photos. Once the submissions are entered, the ABC works with the contestants to produce their story and feature it on ABC platforms including radio and the ABC's websites. Winners travel to the Heywire regional youth summit in Canberra and brainstorm with other successful entrants about how to tackle problems affecting young Australians in their communities. Community organisations are invited to implement these ideas with the help of grants from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal. More than 5,000 young people have entered the Heywire competition since its inception in 1998. For members of the federal parliament, Heywire gives a unique opportunity to learn more about what is important to Australia's young people who live outside the major cities.

One of the two winners I would like to acknowledge tonight is Rebecca Greening, who is from Naracoorte in the south-east of South Australia. Her winning Heywire entry noted racial discrimination in her home community that is sometimes manifest in unfounded and unjust allegations of terrorism and crime directed at people from the many different ethnic backgrounds who live and work in the area. Rebecca acknowledges that it is not only in regional towns that this type of racial discrimination occurs; it is, unfortunately, found everywhere, including in big cities, and not just in Australia, of course.

Rebecca says in her entry that Naracoorte is an excellent place to live, and she wants the people of Naracoorte to see the added benefits that a more diverse population would bring. She is a strong advocate for multiculturalism. With a growing Afghan population of approximately 300 people in Naracoorte, which has a total population of 7,000 people, Rebecca feels that now is the time to address the racial outlook in her town and in any other regional towns that are also dealing with problems of racism. Bringing about more awareness by counteracting negative media representation will play a big role in that.

The other entrant I wish to acknowledge is Shkiba Nasery. Her winning Heywire entry is about her story and how she came to be in Australia. Shkiba lives in Renmark, in the Riverland of South Australia. She was born in 1998 and comes originally from the Ghazni province of Afghanistan. She is part of a large family and her parents felt that the prospects of their children leading a happy life were very constrained by their environment in Afghanistan, so her father made the difficult decision to leave home when Shkiba was only one year old. He arrived in Australia as a refugee a year after his departure. Shkiba reflects on the lack of contact with her father and how she never really knew him as a young child. She understood his character only from her discussions with her mother and siblings, who did know him better. She talks about first meeting her father in Pakistan in 2006 and then of the whole family seeking and securing residency in Australia a year afterwards. Shkiba is grateful for the things that other Australians take for granted, including her access to a comprehensive education.

I would like to congratulate both Rebecca and Shkiba for sharing their stories and thoughts on Heywire. I hope they both enjoy their time in Canberra. I would like to encourage other regional and rural youth to participate in this year's 2016 Heywire competition. Entries close on 16 September this year, and details of how to enter are available on the ABC's Heywire website or indeed from any MP's or senator's office.