Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a very special event in my electorate: the opening of the parliament of the Lynwood Park Public School. I was privileged to hear policy speeches by each of the ministers and to stay for question time which followed. Like members of this House, members of Lynwood Park parliament are elected. Once prefects and school captains are selected, they are formed into two parties—in this case, the Lynwood Park Party and the Advance Always Party. Potential prime ministers and ministers are selected from each party. Then there is an election—with policies, campaign slogans, budgets, posters and speeches. The election is conducted on the day under the supervision of a representative of the Australian Electoral Commission. All of the children vote. The winning party forms government, and the other party the opposition. The school captains become speakers and the other students in years 5 and 6 become the backbench.

This is not a show parliament. The students at Lynwood Park Public School have real power and input through their parliament, and they use it well. Policy speeches are about real, important school business—standards of education, access to sport and recreational activities and behaviour in the playgrounds. The private members business that I attended, conducted on the day, approved three projects: the reintroduction of structured playtime in the lunch hour, the selection of Bandaged Bear as the parliament’s charity for 2007, and a proposed event, with proceeds going into treasury funds. For each of these three projects, committees of parliament were formed to develop the details and participate in the negotiation of the projects through the senate, which is made up of teachers, before the project returns to the house and is finally signed off by the governor-general, the principal.

Lynwood Park Public School is a very special school. It has a zero per cent suspension rate—that is, no suspensions. In part, that probably has something to do with the fact that the children are actively involved in finding ways to improve behaviour. In fact, it was the Lynwood Park parliament that came up with the idea of putting student mediators in the playground, along with teachers, to assist in finding solutions before trouble grew.

I thought it was appropriate to offer, in this House, my sincere congratulations to the newest members of the Lynwood Park Public School parliament 2007: congratulations to speakers Nicole Ainsworth and Zachary Winslade; Prime Minister Brooke Mancey; Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Nicole Bassani; Minister for Communications Samin Kazi; Minister for Health, Safety and Environment Kayla Frary; Minister for Sport and Recreation Jamie Teleiai; and Minister for Education Shane De Salis. I also congratulate Leader of the Opposition Alec Hobbs; Deputy Opposition Leader and Treasurer Chhavi Malhotra; shadow minister for communications Alana Henley; shadow minister for health, safety and environment Jacob Bradley; shadow minister for sport and recreation Lachlan Sugg-Owen; shadow minister for education Britney Edwards; Serjeant-at-Arms Elle Mustapha; and Hansard reporters Alison Go Smith and Lucas Crouse. May they learn and grow through their term in office and may they serve their constituents well.