Youth Parliament 2022 

A CLOSER LOOK AT

 A PARLIAMENTARIAN’S ROLE

On the weekend of 22 and 23 April, Sinchi Faith and I attended the YMCA South Australia Youth Parliament Training Weekend, held at the University of Adelaide. The training weekend was an essential part of the Youth Parliament program that ran from 17 to 22 July 2022. Over this preparatory weekend we were introduced to topics such as Democracy and Government, Parliamentary Procedures, Public Speaking and Debating, and Bill Development.

The key takeaway for me was the importance of verbal presentation skills, and an ability to debate issues, combined with an awareness of ethics. Participants also developed an understanding that parliamentary work entails brainstorming in order to fully explore issues, concerns and topics, working to accommodate the views and perspectives of others and to finally arrive at mutually beneficial solutions.

A highlight of the program was the opportunity to participate in a mock parliamentary debate; an experience that enabled me to combine and put into practise a range of skills. 

I was fortunate to serve on the Sports, Arts, and Culture Committee, and my fellow committee members and I immediately began planning our bill, called Levelling the Playing Field, which aimed to promote equality in the sports industry. Thus, as should be obvious, we were not there merely to discuss or argue. We were meant to cooperatively address a lofty goal.

Even though the training weekend has ended, our work goes on. My parliamentary colleagues and I have been set the homework task of research issues relevant to our specific committees with the goal of finishing our bills before the arrival of Youth Parliament’s main event – Parliament Week. For now, I have been tasked with researching information on incentives, grants, subsidies, costs for advertising, and the resources allocated for youth sports. 

The training weekend was certainly a great experience in which I am very fortunate to participate and I would like to acknowledge Ms Lamb, the IGNITE Leader, for organising it.