Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

Youth Voice in Parliament Week champions the voices of young Australians by giving them a voice in parliament and online. I'd like to present a speech written by Andre Doban from South Australia as part of Youth Voice in Parliament Week. It is called 'What do I want our new parliament to accomplish?'

He says: 'I want the Australian parliament to strive to better serve its constituents, rather than forge its political gain. I want an Australian parliament that is productive and makes laws which make sense and actually help ordinary Australians, not just the wealthy or big corporations. I want an Australian parliament that, when all is said and done, in 20 years, will know that they did enough to take action to stop the climate crisis. I want an Australian parliament that embodies equality under the law in full and actively supports all measures to improve fairness and justice in our society. I want an Australian parliament whose members take responsibility for their actions and decisions.

I hope for an Australian parliament that is a place of kindness towards each other and a parliament which does its hardest to find the common ground in disagreements, because there are many more things that unite us than divide us. I want an Australian parliament that truly represents Australia's interests and Australian people's voices. That is what our new parliament should accomplish: fairness, unity, action, responsibility, hard work and kindness.'