Taranaki students being heard in the house during youth parliament week – Stuff

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Taranaki students Bethanie Luke, left, Ebony Kalin, Tom Tito-Green and Achim Hane all travelled to Wellington last week to take part in Youth Parliament.

Four Taranaki teenagers with a passion for politics have made their voices heard at Parliament.

The students from around the region travelled to Wellington last week to participate in Youth Parliament with their mentors the regions Labour Party MPs.

Youth parliament happens every three years and spans over a six-month period, encouraging rangatahi to speak up about youth issues in New Zealand.

Tom Tito-Green, 17, attended parliament representing MP Glen Bennett and said his aim was to get a Taranaki Mori voice into Parliament.

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The reason I went was to get our thoughts and ideas across the board including our youth Mori.

Tito-Green said there were roughly 140 youth MPs from around New Zealand including Aucklands Luke Orbell, who was with Te Pati Mori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, and Brylee Gibbes, of Te Awamutu, who was mentored by National Party MP Barbara Kuriger.

Tito-Green, who is head boy of Opunake High School, said it was an emotional few days.

Just knowing that in the 1800s Parliament was the place where it suppressed a lot of Mori and now being a Mori offered an opportunity to sit in the house, it was quite overwhelming and emotional.

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Tito-Green even got a selfie with the prime minister while he was there.

The conversations were all focused on issues youth in New Zealand were facing and how they wanted to fix them.

Tito-Green took his opportunity to speak on Mori issues and said he was successful with his motions.

I moved a motion in the house that spoke about commemorating the legacy of Parihaka.

Although it was not legally implemented into law, the Youth Parliament recognised the motion as being passed.

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He passed a motion for the legacy of Parihaka to be acknowledged and commemorated.

Ebony Kalin, 16, of Hwera High School said she was in her element at The Beehive

It was an absolutely amazing experience that not many Kiwis get to experience, especially speaking in the house.

It was awesome to be surrounded by people that were just as passionate about youth issues as I was, and I couldnt stop smiling the whole time.

Bethanie Luke, 16, from Sacred Heart Girls College, represented Minister of Health Andrew Little and said her main focus was the importance of teenage leadership and the challenges of global warming.

But other conversations included fixing the minimum wage for youth, the make it 16 campaigns and mental health issues.

Listening to all the speeches was really inspirational. Just to know that our generation are all so passionate about so many different things.

Achim Hane, 17, from Francis Douglas Memorial College, was a part of the press gallery and had a chance to listen to what the youth MPs were debating on and then reported on it.

It was the opportunity of a lifetime. I got to watch over Tom and Bethanie speak about what matters to them.

Each youth MP spent three days in Wellington and was introduced to Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Governor General Cindy Kiro.

And after having a conversation with the prime minister and the chance to ask her questions, Hane said he had a great experience.

Just getting to be in the theatre, [Jacinda] standing on that podium and us getting to be the journalist in the room was awesome.

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Taranaki students being heard in the house during youth parliament week - Stuff