House debates

Monday, 21 November 2022

Statements by Members

Youth Voice in Parliament Week

1:54 pm

Photo of Brian MitchellBrian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I'm thrilled to be participating, once again, in the Raise Our Voice campaign, which champions the voices of young Australians by giving them a voice in this parliament. MPs commit to reading a speech written by a young person from their electorate in this House, or in the other place. The speech I'm reading today was submitted by a young man called Hugo from my electorate. At just six years of age, Hugo cares deeply about the environment, which is clear from his speech, which reads:

Hello.

I would like you to stop people from cutting down heaps of trees, because we need trees for oxygen, and some might have bees hives in them, and bees are very important to us.

Another thing, can you please stop all the rubbish and the people who throw rubbish out of cars because it can hurt our wildlife.

We have an Echidna called Jorge who visits our block of land, and we love him and don't want him to get hurt by the rubbish.

Thanks, if you can, Hugo.

I commend Hugo for his passion for the environment, and I'd remind him to join the Tasmanian Junior Beekeepers, a fantastic organisation in my electorate where young children are taught the pleasures of beekeeping. It's a very important role. They had a big opening on the weekend. So, to Hugo, and to all the kids who participated in Raise Our Voice, thank you, and we'll see you next year.