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Young Australians were given a voice in the corridors of power
when MTV Movement's Millennial leader, Olly Tripodi
spent a week at Parliament House in Canberra,
advocating for the issues that matter for 18 to 30 year
olds, an age group known as the millennial generation.
What happened was I arrived on Sunday night, had
the night in Canberra, and basically
got up bright and early on Monday,
and kicked straight into it.
So I've been meeting with politicians,
with lobbyists, with journalists,
to try and get a bit of a feel of how Canberra operates.
The millennial leader was chosen after a nationwide hunt
sponsored by MTV, The Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka,
and Deloitte Digital.
There's a whole host of beliefs and opinions
that young people hold dear.
And they're drastically underrepresented
in the decision making process.
So if I can come here and help let politicians and change
makers know that young people are an engaged demographic,
and want their voices heard, that's a good thing.
Hosted by the House of Representatives,
Olly Tripodi discovered that Parliament
is more than what you see on TV.
Some of the focus of the discussions
that I've been having have been sort of around youth
engagement, how we can get young people back into the decision
making process.
So we've been talking about what youth engagement and opinion
actually looks like.
Is it jumping online, and signing petitions,
and sharing things on Facebook?
Or is it a sit-down meeting with young people, and interest
groups, and young people and politicians?
So, I think the outcome of that discussion
is essentially, that young people's engagement is
just the same as any sort of other engagement
that might exist.
It's about expressing opinion, expressing belief, and trying
to sort of enact the wheels of change.
One of the takeaway messages that I'll have for this week
is that politics, particularly parliamentary politics,
is only a small snippet of what takes place.
So the brutality you see on TV, and that sort of screaming
matches you see across the chamber
isn't a fair reflection of how conciliatory most politicians
are.
It sort of looks like it's a chest thumping sort of fight,
really, but what it really is a whole collection people that
really do care about their community
and trying to do good things.
So it's a contest of ideas.
What I think this week has meant for me is that there's now
doors open for me and for other youth advocates and lobbyists
to come in and sort of say, you know, we've been here before,
we've had these discussions before.
Let's see where we're at on a whole range of youth issues.
So it's been an invaluable experience for me.
Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, has delivered
his first Closing the Gap statement,
which outlines the difference between indigenous
and non-indigenous people in health, education,
and employment.
But most of all, Madam Speaker, I welcome everyone.
The length and breadth of this great land
who wants tomorrow to be better than today.
I can report that our country is on track
to achieve some of the closing the gap targets.
The target to halve the gap in child mortality within a decade
is on track to be met.
We are already close to meeting the target
to have 95 percent of remote children enrolled
for preschool.
And we should soon know what percentage are actually
attending as well as just enrolled.
And the target to have the gap in year 12
attainment by 2020, that's also on track to be met.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that there's almost no progress in closing
the life expectancy gap between aboriginal and other
Australians, which is still about a decade.
We must always remind ourselves that there
can be a fine line between good intentions
and we-know-better paternalism.
Most of all, we should be aware that phrases
like zero tolerance and carrot and the stick
have a different more sinister meaning for a people who've
historically been denied basic understanding
and fair treatment.
So today, instead of each party seeking to wrest control
of the rhetoric, let us all of this in this place, Coalition,
Labour, and cross bench, agree to guarantee the future
of closing the gap framework.
Let us all retain a policy approach built on consultation,
and empowerment, and consensus.