Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm delighted to have been asked to read out the speeches of several intelligent, passionate and articulate young people from Queensland as part of the Raise Our Voice in Parliament campaign.

The first speech that I'm going to read out this evening is by Lillian, who writes about listening to the voices of young people. Lillian writes:

If you were to imagine the country run by today's youth, what would it look like? Young people are passionate and have a lot to say but often don't get the opportunity to voice their opinions.

We are socially conscious and in touch with the world through social media, the news, our families, our teachers and the people around us.

My name is Lillian Goodwin. I am 15 years old and I live in Emerald, Queensland. My electorate is Flynn. I feel that youth deserve more of a voice than what they are given. It gives the opportunity to passionate youth to make a difference.

Many young people are speaking at climate change conferences and helping run protests. They are making a difference in their communities.

I am not focusing on one issue as everything ultimately affects us. What I do believe is that giving the youth an opportunity to have their voices heard may inspire them to become more invested in what is happening in the world today. Involving more youth in the decision-making process would mean that Australia may look different.

Having more youth-led initiatives would impact the social perception of young people because we have so much to say and so much to offer.

Young people deserve the chance to have their viewpoints considered. My hope is that through youth representation, Australia's new parliament will grow to be more inclusive. Thank you.

My second speech is by a young man named Evan, who writes about listening to regional young people on housing, homelessness and the cost of living. Evan writes:

Hi, my name is Evan Townson. I'm 14 years old and I was born in Gordonvale in Far North Queensland. Gordonvale is a small town twenty kilometres from Cairns and it is surrounded by sugarcane farms. My favourite pastimes are fishing, camping, hunting, and playing online games. Gordonvale is one of the best places to live in my opinion, because all of my favourite pastimes are available to me. From my perspective as a 14 year old boy these are some of the things I would like parliament to accomplish.

Young people are not listened to enough. Even though young people have limited life experience, we do have our views on things from our perspectives as we see the effects of decisions made by parliament. Children and young people are entirely reliant on adults as we have no access to money and no influences on the decisions being made. I am concerned about the rise of poverty and the rise of homelessness in my area.

With the cost of everything increasing, I can see the struggle my parents are going through. They work hard to keep a roof over our head and food on our table. My concern is if this is how hard it is to do now how hard will it be to do when I'm an adult.

Every child and young person has the right to have access to a roof over their head, food on their table, access to quality and engaging education, and supporting adults in their lives.

Another thing I am concerned about for my future is the effects of climate change and how this may affect what I'm able to do in the future. Although I can see that this is being done now by the parliament recently, but I think more can be done.

Us young people today may not have all the answers but we need to be heard because it's our future that parliament is deciding. Parliament needs to hear more from young Australians. Parliament needs to have a bigger representation of young people from different backgrounds, especially those that are vulnerable.

With this in mind, the decisions the parliament makes now will determine my future and what it consists of. Will I have an opportunity to have my own home, a family, a good job and continue to do the things that I love?

Or will the decisions Parliament makes today make this just an impossible dream? Please don't just listen but hear us young people and please invest in our future.

Thank you, Lillian and Evan.