A TEAM of six high-school students from the Buloke-Loddon region has had success among other future Victorian leaders at the 2022 Youth Parliament.
The team presented to the parliament the Sustainability and Carbon Neutrality Mining Bill, which was close to their hearts and was passed on the parliament floor.
The feeling after their success was described by team member Noah Slater as “completely euphoric”.
“In our area, a lot of mines have been popping up, from stone mining to gold, which we just had a successful drilling for,” Noah said.
“The mining sector is pretty unregulated and really bad for carbon emissions.
“We want to limit emissions without taking away something so important to our community in mining.”
The Youth Parliament has been operating in Victoria since 1987 and is an avenue for the next generation of politicians to present issues that affect them, their generation and community.
Each team gets a chance to present a Bill, and a team is then put on the other side of the floor to argue against it.
For the Buloke-Loddon team, that was a Rehabilitation in Youth Justice Bill, presented by Red Robbins.
“It was such a tough Bill to refute, because reform in youth justice is something we need very much,” Noah said.
If passed, the Bill can be put before State Parliament for consideration.
Youth Parliament has always been a pathway for the older generation to listen to what issues are affecting the youth.
But while Noah believes his cohort is being heard more often, improvement was still needed.
“Yes, we are being listened to more, but it is not easy to get youth voice out there. We carry little weight because they don’t have to listen to us.”
For Noah, a future in politics isn’t on the horizon, but Youth Parliament is something he and his team want to take part in again.
“Politics isn’t what I want to do,” he said.
“It’s just a big interest of mine.
“It was amazing working with so many other youths to show our views.
“Just being at Parliament House was incredible. We’d all love to do it again next year.”
