Thursday, 30 November 2023

Parliamentary internship program

Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (10:15): This sitting week marks the end of my first year in Parliament. It has been an exciting journey, and I am grateful to be a voice for the people of Northern Victoria in this chamber. My interest in state politics started 28 years ago as a parliamentary intern from Monash University. The internship program started in 1990 and has now proudly hosted more than 1300 interns thanks to the invaluable support of members, library staff and participating universities.

Earlier this week we joined family and friends in Queen’s Hall to celebrate the program graduation of 40 ‍students from five universities. I especially want to thank Pascal Samfat from the Australian Catholic University for assisting me through his research into regional towns impacted by the 2022 Victorian floods. Pascal provided a well-written and in-depth research report entitled We Cannot Go Through This Again: Climate Change Resilient Recommendation for Flood Mitigation in Echuca and Rochester. During the program Pascal attended public hearings to meet locals in flood-affected towns and examined 875 public submissions. He visited Parliament regularly and shared the experience with his grandma Anne Marie Samfat by taking her on a virtual tour of Parliament. It was great to celebrate Pascal’s success at the graduation ceremony with his mum Sharon and Aunty Dana.

I also want to thank fellow MPs like Tim Bull, John Pesutto, Juliana Addison and Premier Jacinta Allan for pausing to have a photo with Pascal. These experiences become memories that last a lifetime, and I hope that the internship program will inspire many more young people to consider a future in politics, as it did me.