Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

The importance of education has been instilled in me from my earliest years, and my time in Australia's education system as a student and then as a researcher and lecturer has given me an even deeper appreciation for high-quality and well-resourced education. It means security for teachers—and I have a lot of teachers in my family and see how hard they work. It means safety and opportunity for students, and it means a more cohesive society that we all benefit from. I'm so lucky in this job to have the opportunity to see this firsthand in schools all over the electorate of Chisholm. I've seen students engage in civic education in a way that makes me absolutely sure that our future in their hands will be one of care, humility and fairness. This government is giving them the tools to do just that, and I'm really proud to be able to represent so many bright young people in this place.

Just last week, I had the great pleasure of visiting St Roch's Catholic Primary School in Glen Iris as a guest adjudicator for their year 6 civics and citizenship debating competition. St Roch's primary school embodies community spirit and civic education. Indeed, it was only last month that the Speaker and I visited their students for the Parliament in Schools program, where we unveiled one of the flags at once flew above this place. You could see in every student's face how proud they were to have been able to touch a piece of Australian history, and I'm sure that they will carry the memory of that experience for years. I thank the Speaker for sharing in that special moment.

Having seen them again last week, I can say the students of St Roch's are absolutely leaders. They debated whether video games should be an official sport, if plastic packaging on all food items should be banned, whether museums should return ancient artefacts to countries of origin and whether smartwatches should be banned in the classroom. I might have been the adjudicator, but I was also a student. I had the opportunity to learn about what our future holds under their leadership, and it shows nothing but promise. I want to thank and congratulate Conner, Marianna, Jacob, George, Charlie, Dom, Matilda, Mia, Harper, Margot, Matthew, Grace, Harriet, Walter, Luka, Marcus, Kathryn, Rose, Aira, Leo, Olivia, Richard and Scarlett. I'm sure at least one of them may one day take a seat here in this place. I look forward to seeing them again soon. They are organising a dog parade. St Roch was the patron saint of dogs, and I will not be missing an opportunity to see that.

Every school in my electorate, though, embodies the spirit of democracy and care for community. Recently, four very passionate year 6 students from Mount Waverley Heights Primary School presented my office with a petition that called on us to make healthy food options cheaper. Together, they collected 80 signatures from the school community. One of my most favourite things to do as the federal member of Chisholm is to hear from young people about their passions and hopes for Australia's future. I think our country is safer, smarter and kinder when young people speak up. It certainly makes it easier to do my job. I wish all of the students who organised the petition the very best of luck in their last year of primary school and encourage them to continue to follow their passions and to involve themselves in their community as leaders.

I encourage all students right across my electorate to get involved in the life of their school and their community, whether it be through debating, whether it be by putting their hand up to be a student representative or helping out at local sports clubs and art groups and many other community organisations. I encourage all students to be brave and be themselves.

Our role in this place has always been to look ahead and consider the effect that the decisions we make today will have on students like those from St Roch's and Mount Waverley Heights in years to come. That principle stands at the centre of this government's policies and, indeed, it guides everything that I do in this place every single day. It's why we're acting on our intergenerational responsibilities through the budget and making sure that those young students who I had the absolute pleasure of meeting recently will have a fair shot at owning their own home in the future and accessing an incredible education, whether that be through the vocational education system or through our universities. I want to do everything I can to make sure that the system for education and for everything else that we do in this place is fair and is sustainable for those generations that will come after us.

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