Youth in politics
Michaela SETTLE (Eureka) (10:05): I am so much looking forward to today. My wonderful youth in politics team are coming into Parliament. They are an amazing group of kids, and they come from wonderful schools in my electorate: Bacchus Marsh College, Mount Clear College and Woodmans Hill college. They have worked hard over the last few months to make the most of their day in Parliament. They will be meeting with the Minister for Police to ask about how he is tackling the issue of fascism in Victoria. They will meet with the minister for transport to talk about how important public transport is for kids in the region, which of course is even better now we have free travel for under-18s. Then it is question time for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety about licensing and regional roads. I was so impressed by their consideration about who they wanted to talk to and what they wanted to talk about.
Our future is in great hands when young people like these think about what they want from their government and can have their say. I want to thank their teachers and principals for supporting them to be here today. We need our young people engaged in politics, and I am so grateful that the schools came on board to give them this opportunity. What a day to be in here, when Victoria is topping the polls in the NAPLAN – not by just a little bit but by a whole lot. It is a testament to the students’ hard work and the commitment of their schools and this government.