Youth to take on Parliament
A group of young people nationwide have the chance to represent their communities as youth members of Parliament.
The chosen participants will soon travel to Wellington to learn the workings of democracy before taking part in Youth Parliament on July 1 and 2.
Four Dunedin youths will join 119 peers from around the country to form this year's Youth Members of Parliament, alongside 20 Youth Press Gallery members.
Each Youth MP is paired with a local representative: Angus Noone with Mark Patterson, Zenah Taha with Ingrid Leary, Phoebe Ashdown with Rachel Brooking and Jomana Moharram with Francisco Hernandez.
Phoebe Ashdown, a year 12 student at Otago Girls' High School, is excited to take part in the non-partisan process.
''I do debate and Amnesty [International] and I am involved with all that sort of stuff, so I just jumped at the opportunity.''
One key issue for her is access to mental health support.
''When it comes to mental health, a lot of it starts with stigma and not making it normalised in our society that youth can get mental health treatment.''
Accessibility and cost were two obstacles to securing psychological care.
''I think it is very expensive to get therapy.''
Availability was another concern.
''Frankly, having just a school counsellor is not cutting it.
''When you look at the numbers, it is not cutting it, there are still people struggling with mental health issues so I think that is clear to me that it is somewhere that I think needs change.''
Climate change presented another significant challenge, Phoebe said.
Living in the coastal community of Blueskin Bay, she knew first-hand the problems caused by rising sea levels and erosion.
''I have seen that change happening in my own community.''
She had noticed sea-level changes over the past five years.
''So that is a big thing.''
Jomana Moharram is a second-year University of Otago student studying law and politics.
She said young people could feel hopelessness and rage when striving for meaningful change.
Reflecting on her generation's political engagement, she recalled that their first major protest was the school strikes for climate change.
''We all went out and we all protested and we thought 'the government has a responsibility to hear us, and we are going to go out there and we are going to make our voice heard'.''
However, that was not really what happened, Jomana said.
''You try to talk to a young person about politics now and a lot of people are receptive, a lot of people want to get involved in politics.''
The difficulty arose when young people felt the system did not serve them.
''When you have got uni students who for the majority are cold, hungry and just poor, then that is the reality.
''The system is not serving me, I don't have a stake in the system, I'm not going to engage with it.''
Jomana warned it becomes dangerous when youth disengage from the very system designed to deliver change.
Both Phoebe and Jomana have been preparing for their journey to Parliament by talking with fellow youth to learn which issues matter most to them.
''For me, it is being the collective voice and not just saying what you want to say,'' Phoebe said.
''I'm not here to teach. I'm here to listen. I'm here to learn about politics. I'm here to learn about Dunedin's community and then take it up there and share that.''
SAM.HENDERSON @thestar.co.nz
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RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
The value of Youth MPs put under a question mark
Photo: VNP/Louis Collins A former politician says change is needed to the Youth Parliament system if it's to stay relevant. MP-turned political commentator Peter Dunne says the scheme isn't just "a rag-tag collection of young people coming together for a couple of days to play at being MPs", but if the event is going to be taken seriously, more consistency is required around its processes. That's not the case at the moment, in everything from how the teens are selected to the quality of the mentorship they're getting. The tri-annual event usually passes under the media radar, but this year's event was overshadowed by what a handful of Youth MPs said was censorship of their speeches . Dunne says he could understand the intention behind the message from the Ministry of Youth Development, which asked some students to remove parts of their speeches where they lacked political neutrality, but the issue could have been handled better. In the end, none of the students were stopped from making their speeches, even if they didn't make the changes. Youth Parliament has been held every three years for the past three decades and is described by the government as, "a unique opportunity for young New Zealanders to learn first-hand about our democracy, influence government decision-making, and have their voices heard". In many ways it's like the real thing, with MPs selecting teens to represent them for a couple of days in Parliament where they debate, give speeches and discuss fictional legislation. Dunne says often the young adults outshine the older MPs. "The contrast has usually been between the impeccable behaviour of the youth MPs and the somewhat unruly behaviour of their adult counterparts," he says. The first Youth Parliament was held in 1995 and initially was just a couple of days. Now the programme has expanded, running from April to August and Dunne questions how much teens take out of those extra two months and 29 days. "And more importantly, what weight is attached to that? They've got no formal status in the community, so what role can they play?" he asks. Dunne says much of what the young aspiring politicians learn and do is dependent on the MP they are mentored by. "In some cases they won't do very much, in some cases the MP will work actively with them and assign them a particular project," Dunne says. There also aren't any rules around how MPs select their mentee. Some get applicants to write essays, this year David Seymour held an election, and Dunne says a couple just shoulder tap the kids of a mate. "The time is right to have a proper review into its function and purpose, including the role of the Youth MPs, how they're selected and what are reasonable expectations of them. "Because I think that with a much clearer focus the youth parliament can play a much greater role than it has done to date," Dunne says. Oscar Duffy, representing List MP Melissa Lee became interested in politics last year when his nan was in hospital. "She's a Māori lady and she didn't have the best experience ... so that was a pretty key driver in me being interested in what's going on. "Obviously there's so much tension between Māori and the Crown ... and that affects my family really directly," he says. Duffy agrees that the degree of mentorship varies. He spent substantial time working on projects in his community and in Lee's Mount Albert office but says others didn't have the same experience. "[Ministers] have no time right? Ministers are so busy, I roomed with Simeon Brown's Youth MP and he didn't really see Simeon a lot, if at all," he says. Duffy sees youth parliament as an opportunity for those interested in politics to get an insight into the system. He says everyone attending this year had a keen interest in advocacy and change-making, but he admits that at times some see their role as more important than it is. "There's just a lot of politically charged people in one room. "Putting them all in the same room is great and it gets everyone talking to each other and firing off really good initiatives ... but yeah I guess some of them do think they are a bit more important than they are which is a shame because they probably should be more important and have more of a say," he says. But if he could change one thing Duffy would raise the age bracket because he thinks 16 is too young. "Even just move it up one year, 17-19, so there's more first year uni students who have been through high school, who have seen the whole system," he says. Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Youth Parliament ‘once in a lifetime experience'
Waitaki Youth MP Enya O'Donnell speaks during Youth Parliament in the Beehive earlier this month. PHOTO: JOSEPH KELLY Youth Parliament was in session at the Beehive earlier this month. Waimate High School year 12 student Enya O'Donnell was the representative for Waitaki MP Miles Anderson. The 16-year-old said it was an amazing experience. "I told Miles last time I met him I wish they did it every year because I would definitely be going every year. "It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience and I'm really glad I had it and I learned quite a deal from it." The Youth MPs were given a tour of the Beehive and engaged in group work as well which was presented to the ministers. There was also a general debate where some Youth MPs gave speeches. While Enya did not give a speech, she was able to ask an oral question. She asked what the Ministry of Youth and Development was doing to reduce tall poppy syndrome among youth. "For me, tall poppy syndrome is a very huge and pressing culture in New Zealand and Australia that I often think is overlooked, especially in school communities. "We often see tall poppy syndrome within classmates, friends, family, people who are close to you. "So I thought I'd get it out there, get people thinking about it." The experience has made her rethink her plans for future study. Enya said when she first started choosing her NCEA subjects she was "quite science orientated" but now enjoyed the humanities side of things. "Doing the Youth Parliament has kind of made me realise that 'oh maybe I do just want to go down the road of doing stuff more with people'." There was a bit of controversy across the two days as some Youth MPs claimed they were censored and were told to change their speeches. Mr Anderson said that was not the case. "If you saw the debates, you could see that there had been certainly no censorship. "The minister has made a statement around that and a number of the students themselves have said themselves that yes they were given guidance but they were certainly told that there was no censorship." He said the guidance given was mainly around avoiding defamation. "Some of the protections that are available to parliamentarians weren't available to the student politicians." Youth Parliament gave the participants a close look at how government works, he said. "It's a really good way for the younger generation to get an understanding of how the parliament works because it's quite complex and it's not as most people think it is. "They think it's Donald Trump sitting at a desk signing executive orders and that's not how it works. "It's good to see all those that attended enjoyed the experience."
NZ Herald
6 days ago
- NZ Herald
Empowering youth voices is crucial for NZ's future
Some of the 143 youth who travelled to Wellington for Youth Parliament. One-hundred and forty-three youth travelled to Wellington for Youth Parliament from July 1-2. This included 123 Youth MPs and 20 Youth Press Gallery. The energy was electric! Chelsea Reti, born and raised in the Far North, mokopuna o Te Aho Matua, stood as my Youth MP. Reti, with our other tai tamariki (youth) of the North, came with their heritage, their culture and their communities, ready to participate and share their unique northern perspectives. In Youth Parliament our representatives participated in working groups akin to select committees, addressing issues such as gambling harm, sport and recreation, te reo Māori and other critical systems and issues facing Aotearoa. For Reti, it was retirement income. These are important issues in our communities today and will be in the future. As our youth shared many times in Youth Parliament, today's decisions will be inherited tomorrow. Our Youth MPs also had the opportunity to ask questions of ministers and make general debate speeches in the House. For Reti, it was a question to Minister Louise Upston on the issue of child poverty, asking what measures the Government is taking to reduce child poverty in our communities – something very relevant for the Far North and rural communities. There was a lot of coverage in the media of Youth Parliament, where our youth expressed concerns at the feelings of being censored in their general debate speeches. In liaison with officials and our youth, it was important to highlight the desire for our young people to express themselves authentically but also maintain safety, as matters such as privilege do not apply in Youth Parliament. The general debate speeches were fiery, passionate and on point, which brought local issues into national thinking.
