Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Raise Our Voice is an organisation dedicated to ensuring that young people are heard. It has created a platform to elevate the ideas and passions of young Australians and promotes our belief in their ability to shape our future. I have great pleasure in supporting Raise Our Voice in Parliament, and today I share with you the inspiration of Kooyong constituent Alannah, aged 16, who tells us what steps the government should take to build a better tomorrow for young Australians.

Alannah wrote:

As children, we would all ask questions like "Why is the sky blue?" or "How do birds fly?". Unfortunately, this curiosity often fades as we grow older. When we do not nurture and encourage this fascination, too many people become disconnected from the discipline that thrives on curiosity: Science.

A better tomorrow will come when we protect the curiosity and wonder of young Australians today. Science should be embedded within every system of our society, from schools to parliaments. It answers questions and creates solutions about the world we live in. It shouldn't rise and fall with the election cycle or be subjected to political fluctuations.

When we apply a scientific framework into every sector of our society, people become more educated, information becomes more accessible, research receives more funding—

That's very close to my heart, Alannah, thank you—

and decisions are made based on evidence, in a way that helps all Australians. Climate policy, healthcare, industry growth and education can all be strengthened by science.

Young Australians are ready to ask big questions, and we need a government that can answer them. Protecting science from politics, funding it consistently and fostering curiosity will build an Australia on the foundations of truth, flexibility and opportunity. This is the tomorrow that young Australians ask you to build today.

Thank you for those words, Alannah. They're absolutely inspiring. I believe every word that you said and I'm completely behind you. It was a great honour to raise your voice in parliament today. Thanks again.