The McWhirter Conference | 2020
The McWhirter Foundation held its second annual conference in Australia on 2 and 3 July. The conference was held online. The conference topic was 'Post Covid-19, which is more important - the environment or the economy?’
The McWhirter conferences provide a unique, and sometimes life-changing, educational opportunity for bright Years 11 and 12 students from both state and independent schools. The students form small syndicate groups to discuss what they’ve heard from each of the four guest speakers. These syndicate sessions, and the conference, culminate in a ‘question time’ plenary session with the students forming both the audience and the panel. The McWhirter Foundation and its supporters host the conference with no cost to the students. The conference encourages students to think about their own role in society and to think about how they might get involved in shaping Australia’s future. Dame Quentin Bryce is the Patron for the conference in Australia. Since 1975, more than 3,500 students have attended a McWhirter Conference.
Two Frankston High School students – Tess Rogers and Bella Bailey attended this prestigious event online.
The McWhirter Conference was a two-day online convention, discussing the topic, Post Covid19: What’s more important, the economy or environment? Around 90 Victorian students from private and public schools joined together in an online forum to learn from four speakers, based in different fields with different viewpoints of the topic. I really enjoyed hearing from Zoe Whitton, who explained that you don’t get to protect the environment without an economy, but with no environment - you have no economy. I found this to be my own opinion after the two days as I learnt that the environment and economy are dependable on each other.
Throughout the conference we referred back to our syndicate groups many times, giving us the opportunity to voice our opinions after lectures and discuss arising ideas. Each syndicate group held around 7 members, with one supervisor- unable to voice their own opinion. This meant students were not swayed into thinking a certain way and could develop their own thoughts. I am not going to lie, speaking in my syndicate group for the first time felt really awkward. But after the two days there was a great bond between us all.
The atmosphere at the end of the conference felt very special. Most people actually became quite emotional that the conference had come to an end. Though no one was in the same room, there was a strong sense of connection between us all.
Tess Rogers, Year 11 SLC Member
On Thursday 2 and Friday 3 July I also participated in the McWhirter conference via a zoom call. In this conference 75 students and a range of international leaders spoke in regards to the importance and balance of the economy vs the environment post Covid-19. We had four speakers over the two days who discussed positives, negatives and different angles we can approach this crisis. It was so eye opening and compelling to later discuss the speakers point of view with 11 other Years 11 and 12 students from around the county. I’m so grateful for this opportunity and would like to thank Mrs Sarah Bahramis.
Bella Bailey - Year 11 SLC Member
Check out https://www.mcwhirterfoundation.org/melbourne for more details.