Youth MPs get taste of parliament

They may not be old enough to vote, but two Taranaki teenagers are already dipping their toes into the art of politics.

Michael McLeod and Jessica Boniface, both 17, spent two days representing Labour leader Andrew Little and New Plymouth National MP Jonathan Young respectively at youth parliament last week.

Started in 1993, youth parliament mimics a full sitting of par- liament, with 121 youth taking the place of an MP and debating a number of topics, and even passing a mock bill.

Their ‘‘tenure’’ began in January and culminated in a sitting at parliament over Tuesday and Wednesday last week.

While in Wellington, they took part in question time, select committees and debates, and also gave a speech to the house.

‘‘I thought it was so interesting, I thought it was such a great opportunity,’’ Boniface said.

‘‘Just learning about politics and how it’s run from the MPs’ perspective.’’

The year 13 student at New Plymouth Girls’ High said the two days had been pretty busy. ‘‘It was very well organised.’’ While she has to wait another year before she can vote herself, Boniface had been using her position as a youth MP to encourage others at her school to enrol as soon as they could.

‘‘I think it’s mostly to make people aware and get us to promote how important politics is for young people because we’re losing a lot of young people,’’ Boniface said.

McLeod said it was an awesome opportunity that he couldn’t turn down.

‘‘It was a really great experience,’’ he said. ‘‘It gave us that inside, behind the scenes look into how parliament runs.’’

The year 12 student at New Plymouth Boys’ High School spoke during the general debate and his speech, titled ’’We are the elders of the future, we are the elders of the world’’, received a standing ovation.