Secondary Schools Parliamentary Convention

2025 Secondary Schools Parliamentary Convention

On Friday 23rd May, three Year 10 students, Ella Foreman, Kristian Piasecki and Asher Greenblat, participated in the Victorian Secondary Schools Parliamentary Convention at the Parliament of Victoria. The convention is part of the Victorian Students’ Parliamentary Program (VSPP) which provides students with opportunities to learn about Australia’s constitution and systems of government.

Ella, Kristian and Asher were fantastic representatives of GEC as they participated with enthusiasm and confidence with representatives from 13 other schools, in a parliamentary debate concerning the topic – ‘Should the government ban businesses from being cashless?’.

After beginning the day in the beautiful Queen’s Hall, the students moved to the Legislative Assembly Chamber where Asher read a persuasive opening statement on this topic, written by all three students. The day then involved the students participating in student discussion groups and debates as well as hearing from two keynote speakers: Dr Alex Belli, from The University of Melbourne and Professor Angel Zhong from RMIT University.

Ella, Kristian and Asher led many of the discussions and were vibrant and passionate when speaking in the Chamber - they certainly were not shy when putting forward their arguments! The day ended with a final vote on the debate topic, with most students voting ‘aye’ or in the affirmative. All three students spoke positively about the experience and would highly recommend it for students to participate in next year.

Sophie Clark

Humanities Teacher