Zaneta Mascarenhas MP
Federation Chamber, Parliament House, Canberra
Private Members’ Business
Young people can change the world. With this idea in mind, on Tuesday 17 September, I hosted the first Swan Young Changemakers Conference to bring young people from across the electorate of Swan together. It was a day designed by young people and led by young people.
Over 40 student leaders from 10 different high schools came together. It was a diverse group, but everyone agreed that they wanted to change their community for the better. The truth is that, when the students first rocked up to Pawsey, the supercomputing centre in my electorate, they were a bit daunted. All these students from different high schools! But when they spoke to each other—and we broke people up into different groups—they came up with some incredible ideas. They discussed key societal challenges and priority areas for them. They also had valuable opportunities to collaborate with young leaders who are making an incredible impact in their respective fields. They explored the reasons why change is necessary, the barriers that stand in the way and solutions based recommendations.
Each topic was inspired by young people. The topics they discussed included climate change and, in particular, the structures of governance that are preventing action, the psychology of the climate crisis, the socioeconomically disproportionate spread of its effects and the disparities in infrastructure and health resources. They talked about education inequality and, in particular, the inequality between public and private schools and their funding, as well as the lack of resources in remote areas and Indigenous communities. They also talked about reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people and, in particular, the limited acknowledgement of historical injustices in media and the school curriculum, the passive enabling of prejudiced attitudes, the lack of recognition of the failures in the justice system and the lack of connection to culture. There were also discussions about the housing crisis, the rapid price increase, the impact of generational inequality and the removal of housing stock for short-term rental affordability. They also talked about artificial intelligence: AIR is U-G-L-Y—ugly! As another student explained, it has no soul. They also discussed mental health challenges. As this generation is facing some really challenging issues, they are concerned and want to see changes.
I want to thank Emily, Maisarah, Denzel, Dan, Jemima and Molly for their impact in leading some incredibly complex discussions. They were fantastic.
