Speech

OPENING OF THE NATIONAL YOUTH ROUNDTABLE

The Hon. Dr David Kemp MP - Minister for Education,
Training and Youth Affairs

PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA - 9 MARCH 1999

It gives me great pleasure to be here with you this morning, to open the Government’s first National Youth Roundtable. May I welcome you to Canberra, and to Parliament House, and thank you for your commitment to this important and exciting initiative. I have greatly enjoyed meeting and talking with you over the last couple of days, have been impressed by your positive energy, and look forward to watching all this come to fruition over the next couple of days

You are all pioneers. You have accepted the challenge issued by the Government to come to Canberra, sit down with the Government and talk frankly and directly about the issues and concerns impacting on your generation. You have accepted the responsibility of representing your generation to the best of your abilities, to work towards improved outcomes for young Australians. And you have arrived this week, after your State workshops, no doubt bounding with enthusiasm and ideas, but perhaps also a little apprehensive about the implications of this new Youth Roundtable.

We have been witnessing a recent and growing trend in the participation of young people in their societies, and the National Youth Roundtable is the culmination of that trend. Around the country, enterprising young people have been organising and participating in youth forums – discussing ideas and working towards local solutions – driven by their own energy, idealism and determination to make a difference. This is essentially a new phenomenon. It shows that your generation has an organisational capacity, a national perspective and a deep interest in becoming involved in national affairs.

This is, after all, the best informed and best educated generation of young Australians ever. With the advantages of technology you are more closely linked across the country and into the global community than any previous generation. And just as education for women led to a political revolution in this country over a century ago, so too are today’s young Australians seizing the initiative and changing the face of political debate.

This growing trend in youth activism and youth forums has been led by the desire of young Australians to talk directly with the decision-makers on the issues impacting upon their generation, without the usual filters of interest groups and lobby groups.

The National Youth Roundtable gives your generation that direct line into the Commonwealth Government. I am myself convinced that the best way to make sure that policy is heading in the right direction is by consulting with people at the local community level. Consultation is the genesis behind many of our policies for young Australians. I, and the Government, are committed to direct, open and frank communication with young Australians. It is a commitment that I take seriously. It is a commitment about which the Government is genuine.

Your presence here this week, and the nearly 1,000 outstanding applications we received from young people wanting to be part of this process, shows that your generation is equally serious about talking directly to the Government. I would like to extend my appreciation to every young person who demonstrated their commitment to this process by applying to be a part of it, and to encourage them to get involved with youth forums at their local and State level, keep an eye on the progress being made here in Canberra, and if they were unsuccessful this time, apply again next year.

Those of you here today were chosen to represent the diversity and aspirations of Australia’s youth. The Government set out to bring together 50 young Australians, aged from 15 – 24, who were a truly representative cross-section of their generation. I believe that we have achieved this:

one-third of you come from regional Australia, and two-thirds from urban Australia;
you represent all States and Territories and are spread across the age range;
you represent many cultural and religious backgrounds, non-English speaking and Indigenous backgrounds;
some of you are employed, some studying and working, and some are unemployed;
some of you have vast experience in youth forums and political activism, and others have undertaken significant voluntary work in their communities; and
some of you have overcome barriers such as disabilities, overseas conflicts and homelessness.

You are a truly representative group of young Australians – yet truly outstanding individuals.

While not often properly acknowledged, young Australians are already out there, leading and achieving, overcoming difficulties and preparing to take their place at the helm of a rapidly developing and remarkable democracy, at a very exciting and challenging time globally. Young people are looking after ill or disabled parents; contributing endless hours of voluntary work to local youth groups, sporting teams and community organisations. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds are triumphing over multiple challenges; others are running their own businesses and breaking new ground in science and research.

This Roundtable provides you with the opportunity to bring the personal experience of what it means to be a young person in Australia today onto the national scene, and to draw out of that experience conclusions and lessons which may be of value to others when used as a basis for national policy development. I have no doubt that the National Youth Roundtable, and you who make up its membership, have the capacity to deliver valuable ideas and vision to the Government – ideas and vision based on your experiences and views.

Through your constructive contributions, the National Youth Roundtable will showcase to the country what young people are capable of. It will build on the respect generated for young people by the Constitutional Convention, where young Australians distinguished themselves by the constructive nature of their contributions on such an important national issue.

The membership of the Roundtable represents the actual diversity which is Australia today. We have not sought in any way to bias the selection of the Members of the Roundtable in favour of some opinions over others. Everyone is entitled to their own views and I know that you will express them in the discussions and presentations over the next days without fear or favour.

If there is one value above all others which we have sought to build into the foundations of this Roundtable it is the value of mutual respect. Many of you have already said to me how important they see this as being. I know that as Members of the Roundtable you respect the views of other members, and that you are committed not only to share your own views but to listen to and consider the views of others. Equally, the Government respects your views, and will listen.

Recognising the diversity of views you bring to the Roundtable, we are not looking for some sort of artificial consensus position from the deliberations of the Roundtable. It would be rare for one point of view to be truly representative of all young Australians on any topic. Throughout Australia, as here on the Roundtable, there is likely to be a broad diversity of opinions and positions, and the Government wants to hear them all. It is worth remembering that often in politics, it is the unpopular or the minority view – the one that goes against conventional wisdom – that later proves to be the soundest. This is true of many of the great social reforms of the last century.

These are values which are very important to the success of our remarkable democracy in the years ahead. The very structure of the Roundtable is designed with these values in mind. The workshop process, parallel to that used in decision-making in large public and private organisations, encourages positive and full contributions, listening and sharing by all the Members. These workshops are balanced by Plenary sessions for sharing of progress and further input.

I have been keen that the questions asked of the workshops be broad, as this gives you and your communities the chance to put forward what you think is important. I have made it clear from the outset that nothing is to be ‘off the agenda’ or ‘out of bounds’. The Agenda topics for the National Youth Roundtable have largely been shaped through wide consultations with yourselves, the 1,000 applicants for the Roundtable and organisations working with young people. These consultations have strongly indicated the six main areas that Australian youth want to see discussed are Education, Employment and Economy, Health and Wellbeing, Lifestyle Issues, National Perspectives and the Environment. The Government has also included provision for three ‘Spot Topics’ throughout the programme, for specific issues on which we seek your feedback. For these ‘Spot Topics’, we have nominated reconciliation, the constitutional preamble and the move to a republic, and the portrayal of young people in the media.

By the end of this first Roundtable, the Government is seeking from you, under the Agenda headings:

your vision of where Australia should be headed in that policy area;
the full range of preliminary ideas that emerge as to the best way to reach that vision; and
your commitment to continue to pursue these ideas and topics over the next six months through consultation with your peers and your local communities, and to bring these ideas back to the second Roundtable later this year.

The work that you do over the next couple of days, and the consideration you give to the issues, is really only the start of the process. Policy-making benefits from many inputs and ideas and often takes some time to bring it all together. As I have found consultation at the local level to be the most effective way of ensuring policies are on the right track, so I am sure you will find that your opinions and ideas on certain issues will benefit from further research and consultation in your communities. And you will, of course, be supported throughout the year in your networking, consulting and research.

At the second Roundtable, we look forward to the results of your consultations. In these consultations, you are not in any way restricted to your particular topic areas. While you will concentrate on the work your topic group has in progress, we encourage you to contribute via the Internet chat rooms and e-mail discussions to the wider range of issues the Roundtable is dealing with.

However, the work you do over the next two days, and the final presentations you make tomorrow will be very important in informing the Government of young people’s visions for the 21^st Century and keeping the Government in touch with the issues and concerns impacting upon your generation.

I greatly look forward to spending as much time with you as possible in your sessions over the next couple of days, and to receiving your final presentations.

I hope that you will take away from this National Youth Roundtable a strong sense that your participation in national policy development is genuinely sought, and an expectation that your hard work will be effectively used.

As you look at each other around the Roundtable you are seeing a very representative group of Australians of your generation. You are truly the Australia of tomorrow, and the time will come when the responsibility for governing this great country, certainly as citizens and perhaps as members of a future government, will be in your hands. I hope that the experience of the National Youth Roundtable will be seen by you in future years as having been an important step in achieving what you want with your life.

In opening the first National Youth Roundtable, may I again congratulate you all, thank you for your commitment, and wish you inspired and visionary discussions over the next two days.

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