Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Recently I had the pleasure of welcoming a young trailblazer into my office. Emma Britten-Jones—a year 10 student from Edmund Rice Flexi School, in Elizabeth. Emma joined my electoral office for a week and a half of work experience, and, if I'm right, they'll be listening right now to this speech.

During her time with us I asked her to write a speech for me to present to parliament about something she considers important, and these are her thoughts on the importance of education and mental health for young people in the electorate of Spence:

I would like to begin by saying that the future of Education faces uphill challenges. The way students learn is not the same as it was 10 years ago.

Not all students learn the same way, and because of this, we need to help our teachers to be better equipped to educate students that receive information differently.

I would like to add that phones or devices made for music should be allowed, under the right circumstances, in schools.

For some young people it helps them focus and learn. Without these, students can find it hard to fully engage in the classroom and can fall behind in their learning.

Furthermore, we need to maintain free mental health services for young people. Statistics show that 402 young people aged 15-24 die each year because of suicide. A number that we need to lower, and which these free services aim to do.

Nearly 2 in 5 five young Australian experience a mental health disorder and 20% of teens experience depression before reaching adulthood.

Our young people are crying out for help, and it should be the top priority of the government to support them…

Emma, thank you for your thoughtful words and speaking on behalf of yourself and your peers. I hope the time working alongside us in my office gave you an understanding of the work of a member of parliament, like myself, in their electorate and an insight into the work you may want to do after school.

Your contribution during your time with me has been invaluable—from helping with social media and speechwriting, like most of this one, and other tasks that keep the office moving to the bigger moments of engaging with the community, like welcoming many of my colleagues, such as the Speaker of the House and the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, to Spence. It was clear you approached each opportunity with curiosity, respect and a willingness to learn. I look forward to our future catch-ups and seeing how you are going with your schooling and your journey towards greatness.

I hope you had a great time with us, and, with a little luck, you may consider joining Young Labor as part of your future journey towards politics. All the best and thank you.

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