Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is a lot of commentary at the moment about the health of Western democracy. Unsurprisingly, many people are sceptical that our system of government is not working. This is especially the case among young Australians. The AEC estimates that at the last election, over 800,000 Australians were not enrolled to vote. Of this number, over 350,000 are estimated to be aged 18 to 25. What is more, an online survey of 10,000 18- to 29-year-olds by Triple J—yes, I do tune in—last year found that 44 per cent see no difference between the major parties; and 80 per cent do not believe that politicians work in young people's best interests.

If those numbers are to be believed then we, the elected members, representatives of this place, must work harder together to win the trust of Australia's youth. This is why I was heartened to receive a number of emails from students at Mandurah Baptist College recently in my electorate of Canning. The school's grade 10 civics class was exploring the question: is Australian democracy broken? They wanted to know what their local MP thought, and I was more than happy to share my thoughts.

Last Thursday I visited Mandurah Baptist College to speak directly with the students. I spoke to several classes of year 10 and year 11 students about how parliament works, the nature of our Westminster democracy and a wide range of policy and political issues. Afterwards, I also sat down with the a small group of year 12 politics students and together we discussed and debated—I should say debated—a range of topics, including tax, same-sex marriage, youth mental health, defence spending and euthanasia.

My message to the students was simple: it is up to us on both sides to be good stewards of our country; and it is up to us to pass on the country in good shape with low debt, secure borders and our institutions preserved and upheld as they are now. But they are Australia's future. I said to them, 'Be informed, be engaged, be involved. Our democracy is not broken. We enjoy great freedom, peace and prosperity compared to much of the rest of the world. But these things are fragile, and so it is up to all of us to ensure they continue for generations to come.'

I would like to thank teacher Catherine Eppen for organising the visit and for her hospitality as well as the grade 12 students I spoke with: James, Caleb, Stella, Lauren, Kate and Monique. I thank James particularly for his honesty. I also make special acknowledgement of all the students who spoke to me directly. I hope I was able to offer some encouragement that, when you speak, your MP listens.