Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to give a voice to the views of young people in my home state of Western Australia. Like many in this place, I believe it to be of the upmost importance for all senators to have at the forefront of their minds the attitudes, aspirations and concerns of our nation's youth. Of course, we know it is the young people of today who will inherit the decisions that we take in this place.

In this spirit, I'd like to present today the views of two young Western Australians who participated in the parliamentary Raise Your Voice competition. Put simply, they were motivated to share their vision of Australia in 20 years time. I'm delighted to share that vision with the Senate. For the record, I have consciously chosen two young Western Australians, not from our cities but from regional Western Australia. The voice of regional Western Australia should always be amplified, and it's a task I bring to the Senate on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis. The first of these is 15-year-old Frank Stevenson, who is from the wheatbelt town of Cunderdin, 156 kilometres east of Perth. Frank shares these comments: 'In 20 years, I see Australia having environmental strategies that will prevent further population and damage to our environment. This is important to me because I want a stable future for the next generations to come so that they can have similar experiences to those that we enjoy now. I'd also like to see improvements to health facilities in rural Western Australia as it's necessary as accidents occur frequently and access to a hospital can be difficult. Live export is another strong part of Australia's economy and is very important to livestock owners around regional WA. Keeping live exports will help support the regional people of Western Australia and flow money back into our regional economies. This can be achieved by political reform, awareness of climate through events, and actions from parliament.' What a great, refreshing perspective from Frank.

My next comments are from 16-year-old Lachie Forshaw, who is from a cattle station 200 kilometres from Broome in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Lachie Forshaw writes: 'In 20 years, I expect Australia's rural areas to have similar facilities to those available in the cities. This can be achieved by, for example, covering rural areas with good internet—probably 5G or 6G by then. I believe this is important as, currently, kids and families grow up without communication with the outside world and often have social and educational issues when they are older or leave home. Easier access to food would also greatly benefit our rural areas by placing more roadhouses along highways and in more-remote areas. Growing up in a cattle station, I know that it can be expensive to simply drive to a town or your local community, often 100 kilometres away, just to get food. If we don't resolve these issues, families living in rural areas will be forced to leave and move to the city, and food production and the identity of true Australians will be lost.' Well done, Lachie. As someone who is a regular traveller across the Kimberley region, I know well the very long stretches of road and the isolation they can bring to pastoral communities across the far north of Western Australia.

I commend these two young Western Australians for their concern and for their vision of Australia. I remind my Senate colleagues from across the chamber of the responsibility that we owe two young Australians. They are the national leaders of tomorrow.