Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's so good that, in the next couple of weeks, we've got a whole bunch of kids who'll be finishing 13 years of school. A lot of us can sort of remember that—it was a while ago. But there's some trepidation when people think: 'What the heck am I going to do with my life?' Can I say to those young people: look forward to it with anticipation and some sort of excitement, because you can do anything you put your mind to. For some people, that's going to be following the VET pathway. Some people are going through higher education. Some people will join the Defence Force or even take up a career with the emergency services. Whatever you do, do it with gusto and do it with pride because we live in a great country.

I've been to schools recently for their graduation awards, like Carmichael College, Narangba Valley State High School and St Columban's. I was struck by St Columban's; two of their older school captains came in and reiterated their story from five years ago. One has gone down the pathway of higher education and is on her way to becoming a physiotherapist, but the other one was going to do university and he then went out and had a crack at sales and is now enjoying a real estate career.

It doesn't matter how you start your journey in this life; it's how you finish. There's more than one pathway to success. Get out there, kids, and have a go. It's the Australian way. Good on you.

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