I have received a comment asking me to write a run-down on the Youth Parliament Experience. It was an amazing experience, and I can admit that I have been bitten by the Politics bug. It gave me a very real insight into the workings of Parliament and also a chance to meet real politicians and “pick their brains”. I met Phil Goff, Helen Clark and Michael Cullen and Harry Duynhoven. I was also surprised to see so many youth with very strong political affiliations, this coming from a very staunch Labour family member.
Every youth MP had a seat on one of the major Select Committes, I had a seat on the Maori Affairs Select Committee where we debated ways to retain students in Upper Secondary School, after hearing submissions from the Ministry of Education, The New Zealand Treasury, Te Puni Kokiri (TPK) and YouthLAW we presented a report to the House.
A few members took part in Question Time where we were able to ask questions of Ministers, a few, myself included, took part in the General Debate where we were allowed the opportunity to talk or rant about a topic of our choice. NCEA was my choice. Finally the remainder of the students took part in the Legislative Debate where they debated a bill on climate change which in essence stated that “All house-holds should open a carbon account to record their carbon emissions and receive tax credits. I abstained my vote because I heard very convincing arguments from both sides and decided to stay with my gut.
If I ever had the opportunity to do it all over again, I would drop everything and do it.
Check out the Youth Parliament Page in my Links sidebar
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