Queensland Academies Creative Industries would like to acknowledge and congratulate Hayes Butler-Dupuy, Year 10 on his recent visit to Parliament House for a mock debate on a bill in the Legislative Assembly Chamber.
Following receipt of appointed portfolios, Hayes, representing Education was tasked with looking at ways to address the teacher shorter. Hayes recounts his experience as the Youth Member for the YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament.
My name is Hayes, and I’m the Youth Member for Greenslopes in the 2023 YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament. It’s been a very busy few months!
On 15 April I was a part of a group who went to Parliament House to have a mock debate, on a bill, in the Legislative Assembly Chamber. As members, we were sworn in at a ceremony in the Legislative Council chamber by the Youth Governor, Jamie Robbins with many members of government and opposition in attendance, including the then Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Science, and Youth Affairs and the Member for Gaven, Meaghan Scanlon (who was recently sworn into the Housing portfolio), her opposition counterpart Sam O’Connor, the Member for Bonney, and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Curtis Pitt, Member for Mulgrave.
Since April, we’ve been drafting our bills. Every youth member gets appointed to a portfolio which drafts a Bill to be debated in the chamber at Residential Sitting Week in September. The portfolio I’m in is Education, Employment and Small Business, Training and Skills Development and the Arts (EETA), and we’re looking at ways to address the teacher shortage. In the course of drafting our bills we will be conducting consultations with stakeholders to ensure we actually achieve what we want. My portfolio has received consultations by the Queensland Teachers’ Union, the Independent Education Union (QLD and NT branch) and the Queensland College of Teachers, as well as members of the UQ Teaching faculty and several MPs.
As Youth Members we’re encouraged to engage with our members, and recently I had the immense privilege to shadow my MP, Joe Kelly, around parliament for the day. As the Deputy Speaker (and current Acting Speaker) Joe had many meetings that I was fortunate enough to sit in on, including meetings with the Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia, and the acting Colombian Ambassador. Later in the day I was also able to attend a meeting of the Parliamentary Friends of Latin America, of which Joe is a Co-Chair. The event was attended by many members of parliament, including the Premier, the Leader of the Opposition and several government ministers.
It was a really great day, and I was really lucky to have been invited. I’m also incredibly proud to be this year’s Youth Member for Greenslopes, and to continue to participate in events like this.
...article written by Hayes Butler-Dupuy, Year 10