On Wednesday 15 May, Vice Captains Matthew P and Mallika C, participated in the Civics Citizenship Forum hosted at NSW Parliament and NSW Government House. The program included students being given the opportunity to ask questions to current Members of Parliament, attending question time in the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council Chambers and hearing about the importance of voting in the democratic process. They also toured Government House and were addressed by Her Excellency, The Honourable Margaret Beazley AO QC, Governor of NSW. Please read through Matthew and Mallika’s reflections on the experience.
Matthew:
I was lucky enough to visit Parliament House and Government House with some of the other leaders from around the state. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet our local member, Nathan Hagarty. After we met him, we got to experience question time, which was a fun hour witnessing our democracy in action. We also got to hear a talk from the NSW electoral commission explaining how voting works and elections are run. After lunch, we then headed to Government House for a tour and to hear from the NSW Governor. It was a wonderful experience and great fun to see how our democracy works and meet some of the people involved.
Mallika:
I had the privilege of going to the Civics Leadership Forum. During the program, we visited the NSW Parliament and Government House. In the Parliament House, I spoke with the Leppington State Member Mr Nathan Hagarty about the changes the NSW government is working on to improve society throughout the state. I learnt about the importance of community, the process of creating new laws and the development needed to accommodate society's changing requirements. We also discussed how leaders speak for the needs of their community. As a leader in the College, this opened my eyes to the importance of being open-minded and listening to my peers’ needs. In Government House, we had the opportunity to meet Her Excellency Margaret Beazley who spoke to us about her appointment as governor in New South Wales. A highlight from the program was during ‘Question Time’ in which I learnt the developments that the government are working on to improve society as a whole, including improving the education and health systems to cater to the needs of people. Overall, this leadership forum was an amazing experience as it taught me the importance of our government and gave me greater insight into the Australian history of our democracy and how our government works to improve the lives of our economy.
Matthew and Mallika are leaders and active participants in Student Voice which meets Thursday Lunch 1 in N29. Students who have an interest in politics or voicing their opinions on change are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Miss Priya Sharma
Year 12 Advisor & HSIE Teacher
