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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-07-26 Daily Xml
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YOUTH PARLIAMENT

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (16:22): It gives me pleasure today to take the opportunity to talk a little about the youth parliament and also about some of the local volunteers and achievers in the eastern suburbs of Adelaide. Last week, a number of members would have been able to take the opportunity to come into this chamber and see it transformed into a sea of vibrancy and youth debate, carried on with passion and vigour—and, I have to say, probably a little more decorum than we sometimes see when our parliamentarians are in here.

The YMCA Youth Parliament for 2011 took place last week, and I want to put on the record my congratulations and appreciation to all the youth parliamentarians who made a contribution and who gave up a week of their holidays from school or university, or took time off work to make their contribution and to put on the record their thoughts about how to make South Australia a better place. I also wish to put on the record my appreciation of the volunteers, the members of the Office for Youth and the YMCA, who facilitated that opportunity and the personal development which so many of those youth parliamentarians were able to access.

The youth governor, Sam Mitchell, gave an extraordinary speech on the Monday without notes, and it was only topped by her fantastic speech on the Friday, which I noted the Minister for Youth found so compelling as she was laughing the whole way through, as were all the members of parliament who were able to witness that fantastic speech. I know that the member for Schubert, I think the member for Ashford, the Hon. Stephen Wade MLC, the Hon. Tammy Franks MLC, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, the member for Hammond and others all took the opportunity to appreciate that.

Some of the adjournment speeches I heard that day were particularly poignant: Matthew Schilling gave a fantastic presentation on youth suicide; Ms Phoenix Jade spoke about teen depression; Georgina Morphett spoke on a completely different issue—the need for lifeguards at Wallaroo; Scott Kennedy talked about volunteering in community organisations; and Thomas Stratfold spoke about the media's influence on politics. These youth parliamentarians come from a range of different backgrounds, and the fact that they were able to bring to each other's attention the issues that were important to them from such a range of areas I thought was fantastic to witness.

I note that last week the youth parliament passed five bills: the Rural Students Housing Scheme Act 2011—the rural student living subsidy; the Music Education Act; the Migrant Education Act; the Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2011—and I am sure the member for Ashford will be interested to see the model they have taken as she considers the pursuit of that issue; and, I was particularly pleased to note, the Workforce Participation Act 2011, promising liberal reform of shopping hours. The youth of South Australia have spoken and I am sure that the government will take note of the youth parliament's progress of that bill.

The new youth governor for 2011 is Thom Manning. I am particularly pleased to note that as I, along with several other MPs, was pleased to sponsor Thom Manning's participation in the program this year. I note that, this Sunday at 12 noon, all past participants of any year of youth parliament have been invited to Cocolat on Rundle Street for a forum to discuss what made the program so successful and how to make it better in future. It is a program I enjoyed being part of in 2003. I know that every year the YMCA does a great job in giving those youth parliamentarians the opportunity to make a contribution, and I am sure it will do so for many years to come.

In the brief time available, I also just want to take the opportunity to note some achievements of local figures, particularly in the Morialta area. Members of parliament on both sides, I am sure, would recently have been spending a fair bit of time at changeover dinners for Rotary and Lions clubs and so forth. As you would all know, the senior award for Rotarians' service to their communities is the Paul Harris Fellowship.

In Morialta, we are fortunate to be served by four Rotary clubs: Campbelltown, Morialta, Magill Sunrise and Burnside. Scott Nicholls of the Campbelltown Rotary Club, a former president who is very well known to many people in the Campbelltown community, was given this due acclamation—I am sure it would have been done earlier, had he not been in senior positions in the club in the years when he otherwise would have got it—as was Emidio Equizi in the Morialta Rotary Club, Pauline Hill and Rita Stirling in the Magill Sunrise Rotary Club, and Brian Wall in the Burnside Rotary Club. The Burnside Rotary Club was kind enough to make him president, just after it awarded him the Paul Harris Fellowship, for which I am sure he thanks the club.

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