Politics may not be everyone’s cup of tea but a number of teenagers were excited to be Members of Parliament, albeit for just two days.
Shameela Nassery of Auckland’s Rutherford College was a member of the Youth Parliament 2010 held in Wellington on July 6 and 7. She represented Dr Ashraf Choudhary, List MP of Labour Party.
As well as debating on the ‘Adults Rights and Responsibilities (Age Majority) Bill’ and determining how New Zealand can tap the talents of ‘Mozzies’ (Young Maoris living in Australia), she also represented Labour in a Select Committee.
Dr Choudhary, who is Labour’s Associate Spokesman for Ethnic Affairs, was impressed.
“Shameela has the right attitude to make Parliament notice her competence. Born and raised in New Zealand by a family of refugees who fled their native, war-torn Afghanistan following Soviet invasion, she has done well in her scholastic pursuits as well,” he said.
Lorna Donnelly of Linwood College, Christchurch, who represented National Party MP Nicky Wagner, agreed.
“It was a fantastic opportunity to learn about the functioning of the Government and Parliament. It makes me want to encourage all young people to be informed of politics and make sure that they vote,” she said.
Almost all participants had the gift of the gab.
Apart from being the Prefect at her School, Shameela is also a good debater and represents the institution as its Cultural Captain.
“Parliament 2010 was amazing and the atmosphere was charged with excitement. It was a great experience being a young member of our Parliament and even more enchanting to meet our politicians. Some of them could even crack a joke! This was a great moment in my life,” Shameela said.
Ms Wagner, who was Deputy Chair of the Youth Parliament Organising Committee, said she was pleased to see young people responding well to the opportunity.
“Youth Parliament passed the ‘Adults Rights and Responsibilities (Age Majority) Bill’ with 64-51 (including two abstinences). The Bill reduced the ‘Age of Majority’ from 20 to 18 years and aligned the age thresholds across legislation.
“It was the centrepiece of Youth Parliament,” she said.
There were 13 students from Christchurch representing various MPs. They were Alexander Summerlee from Canterbury University (David Carter, National), Anna Rumbold from St Margaret’s College (Gerry Brownlee, National), Benzair Kumar from Van Asch Deaf Education Centre (Ruth Dyson, Labour), Bethany Mathews from Avonside Girls High School (Dr Russell Norman, Green), Bill Clemens from Papanui High School (Brendan Burns, National), Callum Bell from Kaiapoi High School (Kate Wilkinson, National), Hannah Singh from Darfield High School (Amy Adams, National), Holly Tullett Rangiora High School (Clayton Cosgrove, Labour), Joseph Chamberlain Aranui High School (Lianne Dalziel, Labour), Lorna Donnelly from Linwood College (Nicky Wagner, National), Nathan Jones from Burnside High School (Jim Anderton, Progressive), Portia Allen from Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti (Dr Kennedy Graham, Green) and Timothy Robinson from St Bede’s College (Aaron Gilmore, Labour).
Dr Choudhary said Youth Parliament 2010, held every three years, enabled teenagers (16 to 18 years) to understand how the New Zealand democracy worked and the decision-making process in Parliament.
“Potential Youth MPs were required to write an essay and go through an interview process with their MP to be accepted into the programme.
“122 young New Zealanders, represented each sitting MP, while 10 Youth Journalists, aged between 20 and 24 reported the proceedings,” Dr Choudhary said.
Shameela said she is now inspired to study politics at university.
Politics is no child’s play. Dr Ashraf Choudhary shares a joke with Youth MP Shameela Nassery at the steps of Parliament in Wellington, while Nicky Wagner poses with some young MPs from Christchurch inside Parliament on July 6, 2010.
