ADJOURNMENT

Ms LE (Fowler) (19:30): Like many in this House, I believe in the skills and the talent of our young generation and in their power to shape our communities and society, and I believe it is our role to give them the skills, the opportunities and the networks to cross that bridge into their future. That's why my team and I, working with Fairfield City Council and Mayor Frank Carbone, with Nicolas Chambour from the NSW Department of Education's Educational Pathways Program and with Susanna Tieu, a careers adviser at Bonnyrigg High School, designed and delivered the inaugural Fowler Future Fest, a careers expo held at Fairfield Showground in the heart of Fowler, bringing together more than 80 stallholders and nearly 1,500 year 12 students for a day that excited them, connected them and inspired them about their future.

It was not a talk fest. It was practical, hands on and community driven. NIDA, the National Institute of Dramatic Art, was there, as was the Fashion Institute, the Housing Industry Association, Western Sydney University and many other universities, training providers, small businesses and not-for-profit organisations.

Under one roof, our students could see real pathways into technology, the creative industries, the trades, health, business and community service. It was a memorable and very impactful day. Young people came up to me and thanked my team, the mayor and everyone who gave them this opportunity.

One student told me that she could finally decide what subject to study and what to do at university. Another said our panel had inspired him to start his own business. Some left excited about the trades, others about a future in social work.

Many of these students are the first in their family to finish school, let alone to go to TAFE or university. They come from families working multiple jobs, squeezed by the cost of living and by housing stress. In a community where most families speak a language other than English at home, our young people carry the hopes of parents and grandparents who gave up everything for the chance this new generation holds.

For once they could see themselves in the person standing in front of them in the hall, telling them that they could do this. That is what Fowler Future Fest was about—possibility, belonging and opportunity. It was the simple but powerful message that dreaming and achieving belongs to them too.

A day like this takes many hands and many hearts. I would like to also thank Louise Azzopardi and the Truckin' for Life crew for giving their time and their heart to our young people. I thank many of the local talent who sat on our panel and shared their own stories of struggle and success, including Deputy Mayor Kevin Lam; Ben Stewart, founder and CEO of Evolution Laser Clinic; Rich Tran from Ultrafade; Ronya Gilani of Rilanea; Krisha Valencia; Christian Barac; Anthony Nguyen; Jesse Sene-Lefao; MJ from Ministry Barbers; local artist Alicia Varas; George Kalisperis; Maryana Khoshaba; and Mustafa Al Jaboore.

A special thanks to Cabra Bowls, Amazon and Rotary for donating prizes and giving their time on the day; to the local businesses and organisations that believed in Fowler Future Fest and showed up for our young people—Fred's One Stop Shop, Yanni Boutros of Al Basha Bakery, Street University, our Fairfield St John Ambulance volunteers, the Australian Defence Force, our local SES unit—and, most of all, to our teachers, who brought nearly 1,500 students to the showground that day and who, year after year, refuse to let our young people's potential go to waste.

Thank you. This is why we must ensure our system makes it easier for young people to aspire and succeed. The job-ready graduates scheme has loaded some of the heaviest student debts in the country onto the students who can least afford them.

In a community like ours, that is not how you build aspiration; it's how you crush it. I will keep saying it in this place. Please reverse the Job-ready Graduates and invest properly in our young people, in traineeships and in infrastructure to make them reach for their dreams easier.

Our young people in Fowler are job ready. It is time for this parliament to be future ready. We told them to dream big, and at Fowler Future Fest they did exactly that.

Now it is up to us to make sure those dreams never turn into debt.