Gilmore MP Fiona Phillips congratulates last year’s Raise Our Voice winner Vihan Patel, pictured with his mother Ruchita and father Darshen. Photo: Fiona Phillips.
Students across the NSW South Coast are encouraged to represent their generation and have their say in the fifth annual Raise Our Voice competition.
The prize: the winner’s speech will be read in Parliament.
Gilmore MP Fiona Phillips said all young people in her region and across the South Coast should consider participating.
“I’m looking forward to reading this year’s entries from school students right across the Gilmore electorate,” Ms Phillips said.
“This is one way local students, aged five to 25, can have their voices heard on the national stage and to drive action on real issues.”
Each year, Raise Our Voice puts a question to young people under 25 around Australia.
This year’s question is: What steps should the government take today to build a better tomorrow for young Australians?
The winner’s answer is read by their electorate’s representative in Parliament.
Ms Phillips said she was impressed by last year’s Gilmore winner, Bomaderry High School student Vihan Patel, for his mature and inspiring words.
“He showed compassion and, as well as raising a problem, he also presented ideas that would benefit and enhance his community as a whole,” she said.
“It’s so great to give young people a chance to amplify their thoughts about issues that are important to them and I was really pleased to read Vihan’s speech in Parliament last year.”
Raise Our Voice is a volunteer-led non-profit that partners with parliamentarians each year to provide a local youth voice directly to the legislature.
Last year, 92 senators and MPs participated. So far, 16 MPs and two senators in NSW have signed up including Ms Phillips for Gilmore, Eden-Monaro’s Kristy McBain and Carol Berry for Whitlam.
Each speech should be about 200 words or 90 seconds.
Raise Our Voice encourages entrants to highlight one issue, not focus on the politics, explain why the issue is important with simple language and using shorter sentences.
Submissions close 29 August and can be entered on the Raise Our Voice website.
Raise Our Voice provides a school toolkit to help students and faculty in their planning. Winning speeches will be read out in Parliament in late October.
