Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to share with the House an event that occurred in my electorate. It was the second part of the student representative council forum that I run in the electorate of Lalor. I would like to thank the St James the Apostle School Principal, Mary Abbott, for hosting the second event this year. We had over 130 attendees at this second event. I would like to thank the secondary schools that attended: Al-Taqwa College, Alamanda College K-9, Hoppers Crossing Secondary College, the Islamic College, MacKillop Catholic Regional College, Manor Lakes College prep-12, Tarneit Senior College, the Grange College, Thomas Carr College, Werribee Secondary College and Wyndham Central College. I commend their students for their participation. At the end of the session we talked about what they wanted to see in their country, and those secondary students talked mostly about equality and fairness. Marriage equality was a hot-button issue with them, as was climate change. I also commend all of the primary school students that attended in the morning sessions, who had such a wonderful time and who demonstrate great leadership in their schools, have learned a lot about leadership across the year and are running great projects in their schools.