Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently, I had the great honour to attend a couple of our local primary schools to talk with the years 5 and 6 students about parliament and about what my role is. I asked the students what they would do if they were the federal member for Bendigo or the Prime Minister of this country. The students always have the best ideas about what they want our government to focus on. The students at St Kilian's listed climate change as needing urgent action. They said that we need to do more to help people who are homeless, including ensuring that they have a place to stay. They want to see more investment in homelessness services. The students at Golden Square, who recently opened their primary school, want every school to be a good school and to have new buildings like they have. The students at Axedale said that water was a critical issue and that they are very worried that farmers are not getting the water that they need. Equally, they are concerned about the environment and want to see water in the Murray for the future. The students at Eppalock are also very concerned about climate change, and they believe that this government is not doing enough to support their local environment. Finally, there are the students at Girton Grammar School. Girton is a great school and they want to see every school, regardless of postcode, be a great school. The students there spoke passionately about the need for needs based funding.