Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President, and I thank Senator Pratt for the question and for her interest in this issue. Today it was my great pleasure to congratulate the winners of the Australian government’s ‘think climate, think change’ competition. This competition was inspired by the many contributions that I get, as minister for climate change, from schoolchildren and young people around Australia all throughout the year. The reality is that no-one is more interested in the issue of climate change than our young people, and that is because nobody will be affected more by climate change than young people.

Students were asked to submit their entries to this competition in a range of forms including short stories, poems, songs or artwork in response to the question: ‘What does climate change mean to me?’ The company, Kids Media, coordinated the judging process and selected qualified teachers currently in the teaching system to act as judges. I am pleased to advise that 7,666 entries were received, and the Deputy Prime Minister and I were very pleased to be able to welcome the first three prize winners and their families to Canberra today as part of their prize. I thank other members and senators, including the member for Casey and Senator Milne, for their attendance at the prize-giving ceremony today.

The first prize winner for the grade 3 to 4 category was Isabella Compton from Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School in Kensington, New South Wales. Her winning entry was a compelling piece of artwork. She wrote:

Climate change makes the world a not so nice place to live in. In my artwork I am showing what could happen to trees in the future. The red stripes are a blanket of pollution …

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