Young leaders glimpse future
By Chuulla Keating, Tyler Okino, Hunter Martin-Rundle, Year 6, St Francis Xavier’s School
CAIRNS hosted the Junior Indigenous Youth Parliament at the Cairns Convention Centre on October 25.
Four indigenous students from St Francis Xavier School went with 88 others from schools in and around Cairns and as far away as the Torres Strait Islands.
The youth parliament showed the roles, traditions and rules of parliament.
Tyler Okino, a parliamentary attendant, noted: “It was interesting learning about the manners. We learnt that you can’t clap, you can only say “hear, hear”.
The roles the St Francis Xavier’s students had were as health minister and parliamentary attendants.
Hunter Martin-Rundle, one of the parliamentary attendants, said: “I really liked how we did it just like parliament with all indigenous students. We even had the Honourable Curtis Pitt opening it.”
Youth Minister for Health, Chuulla Keating, rebutted the debate on an Opposition motion which moved that advertising of junk food should be banned and that schools should provide free healthy meals to students.
Chuulla Keating said: “My speech was about how schools shouldn’t have to provide lunches to students. How can students learn to make good food choices, be independent and organised if they don’t pack their own lunch?”
Hunter Martin-Rundle and Tyler Okino had one of the busiest jobs being the parliamentary attendants.
“I had to collect all the speeches made by the ministers and youth members and put them in folders,” said Hunter.
With regard to future, Chuulla said: “I believe it would be good for kids to do it so they can feel proud and maybe in the future be a politician. One day, one of us who was in the youth parliament may be prime minister.”
Hear, hear.