Ross Cadell (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Raise Our Voice in Parliament campaign is a program designed to enable young people from across Australia to have speeches they have prepared read in this building. Young people are encouraged to talk about a single issue they have identified in the community, why it is important and what they would like to see done in the future. This speech was prepared by Oliver Westman. Oliver is a current student at CSU in Port Macquarie, and he is studying a Bachelor of Education. He is originally from the seat of Page on the North Coast. The following are his words:

I am privileged to be literate, educated and informed. But I understand this is an immense privilege. I grew up in Grafton on the North Coast of Australia and witnessed disadvantage in areas of life we do not consider as a society.

Following my recent attendance of the National Leadership Forum, I saw a significant gap in our parliament. Legislation, information and other formal documents released by our parliament are extraordinarily long, full of complicated jargon and therefore, fail to be accessible to disadvantaged, underprivileged and uneducated people in our communities.

Now, I understand parliamentary documents are required to be this way to avoid loopholes and misinterpretation from occurring. I'm not suggesting we fundamentally change this.

However, I do suggest we introduce equivalent summary documents that factually and impartially outline the intention and contents of these documents. Half a page, in plain English, translated for all Australians. I know people would be more engaged with our country's affairs if they had the access and ease to do so.

I, alongside my colleagues, intend to create a database where parliamentary documents are summarised, simply.

A small change for a big percentage.

Thank you, Oliver.