Kiara van HoutIvanhoe Girls' Grammar School

First Prize

Kiara van Hout Parliament Prize 2016 First Prize

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If parliament is the people’s house, what makes it relevant to

generation next?

The relationship between parliament and generation next is symbiotic. In order for parliament to function in its role as a representative lawmaker, it relies on input from a range of community members, the most elusive and underrepresented of which are young people. Meanwhile, the younger generation could benefit dramatically from greater engagement with parliament, and yet are too often (accurately or not) perceived to be apathetic towards the political process. For the mutual benefit of both parties, young people must become aware of the critical significance of lawmaking on the future of generation next, as well as emulate the ideological diversity of parliament. The relationship between parliament and the younger generation should be allowed to grow into one of mutual benefit. Firstly, parliament is of great importance to young people because of the impacts its decisions will have on the lives of generation next in the future. Moss Cass, former member of the Australian House of Representatives, is credited with the saying, “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”. In this vein, it is certainly the case that many of the long-term decisions made by parliament will have a more significant impact on the lives of generation next than on any other age bracket. For example, environmental legislation passed or rejected now may not have a perceivable impact for many years to come, though the young people of today will eventually inherit its effects. Yet in spite of this, few members of generation next are themselves of suitable age and experience to run for public office. This means that young people must engage with parliament in order to ensure that they are appropriately represented, and in order to help set up the society and political climate that they will inherit in decades to come. The difficulty is that generation next are not always prepared to grapple with this reality. The Australian Electoral Commission estimates that approximately 380,000 eligible voters aged between 18 and 25 are not enrolled to vote in the upcoming federal election. This is an enormous waste of potential impact that generation next could be having on parliament, and hence on the community. Young people need to realise that parliament is essential in representing their needs and values into the future. In addition to playing a role in the future wellbeing of generation next, parliament is also vital in helping to counteract widening ideological divides online, an issue of particular importance to the digital generation. In a manner never previously conceivable, technology has facilitated the widespread dissemination of information and opinions. Young people today have more access to moment-by-moment political updates than any other generation before them, and in return, social media has allowed them to become a demographic most adept at articulating their beliefs. However, online forums like Facebook and Twitter are increasingly attracting concern because of the ways in which they act as ‘echo chambers’, surrounding users with reinforcement of their own individual belief systems to the detriment of effective debate and discourse. In January 2016, the Proceedings of the

Kiara van Hout Parliament Prize 2016 First Prize

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National Academy of Sciences published a paper explaining that most social media users are drawn to sources of information that bolster, rather than challenge, their beliefs. This dangerous cycle has a tendency to gradually distort and exaggerate facts, homogenising political views. Parliament is the antithesis of this, and is therefore of relevance to the technological generation in their attempts to combat widening political divides. As a representative lawmaker, parliament is as ideologically diverse as the community, providing a forum for debate in which worldviews are challenged rather than reinforced. Young people must be exposed to institutions like parliament in order to balance the closed systems of thought that they are so frequently exposed to. Acknowledging the complexity of politics and policy is vital in achieving constructive discourse, and greater engagement with parliament is the most effective means by which generation next can achieve this. But in order to make sure that parliament is relevant to generation next, the opposite must also be shown clearly: that young people matter to parliament, and not only as a device to win seats and gain popularity. Generation next have valuable contributions to make to the political process, and their skills and abilities should be used in a meaningful way if we are ever to reach a situation of mutual benefit between parliament and young people. An example of one initiative already working towards this is the YMCA Youth Parliament program supported by the Victorian government, in which young people learn to draft and debate legislation. More than twenty bills passed by Youth Parliament have later become law, such as nightclub safety reforms. Generation next are, like any other demographic, a group of people with diverse skills and interests, and who are able to positively contribute to the wider community through the functions of parliament. However, there is currently no compulsory political education component in any Australian public school curriculum, a course of action worth considering given how integral politics is to modern life. In the absence of this, the onus remains squarely on parliament to involve itself in outreach in order to engage with generation next, and have them engage with parliament in return. Parliament should be seen as relevant to all people, regardless of age, ethnicity, creed or class, but too often this is not held to be the case in the public view. In particular, young people need to realise the significant impacts parliament can have on the future that they will inherit, as well as providing crucial realism to contrast the political ‘echo chambers’ of the digital age. But this relationship will only flourish if parliament and generation next are seen to be mutually relevant to the point of co-dependency. Young people must engage with parliament, and parliament with young people, if we are to maximise the potential of our democratic institutions.