CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Ms CLUTTERHAM (Sturt) (10:31): I recently attended Glen Osmond Primary School, in my electorate of Sturt, for a very informative civic session with a lively and engaged year 5 cohort. The students participated in the classic mock vote in the House of Representatives for the 'should pineapple be allowed on pizza' debate. I think it was the first time I've ever seen a bunch of students actually vote to retain pineapple on pizza!
The students also had a refresher on a number of different parliamentary processes, and then they had the opportunity to ask questions. The questions they asked were completely unfiltered. They were honest, they were sometimes funny, but they were always authentic.
They were reflective of a group of young people who are genuinely interested in their community and genuinely interested in the world around them. One of the questions related to engagement, with students wondering, 'Well, how can you draw an issue, an idea or a concern to the attention of politicians?' And my response is that you can easily contact your local MP via email, telephone, through their website or come and see them in person at community catch-ups.
I encouraged all of them to write to me with their ideas. I told them, as good, solid members of the community, the best ideas come from them and that I would love to hear from them. A lot of the time, when I encourage people to write to me or contact me, they do, but never with the force of the year 5 students from Glen Osmond Primary School, who have since flooded my inbox with correspondence.
It's worth sharing. Maryam wrote to me with her idea to provide a weekly healthy food service that's free for people experiencing homelessness. Louis wrote to me about the need for more playground equipment to encourage kids to stop playing video games and get out of the house.
Jack wrote to me requesting a new sports stadium in the heart of Adelaide so that kids and their families could watch their favourite sports idols play sports together. Bailey wrote to me to express concerns about the need for more green spaces, more nature and more native plants instead. Henley wrote to me about homelessness and his idea that abandoned office buildings in the city could be repurposed into free or low-cost accommodation.
And, finally, James wrote to me about the need for neighbours to look out for each other, to keep each other safe from crime. It was a true privilege to receive such heartfelt, intelligent, empathetic and solution focused correspondence from this group of young people. Congratulations to all the year 5 students and their teachers at Glen Osmond Primary School for such positive and meaningful civic engagement.