|
Youth parliament > Press gallery > Youth Parliament 2007 Grand Opening by Sarah Harvey
Youth Parliament 2007 Grand Opening by Sarah Harvey
Following in the footsteps of Labour MP Darren Hughes and going from Youth Parliament to the real thing, was on the minds of 121 youth MPs as they were officially welcomed to Youth Parliament 2007 yesterday.
 By Sarah Harvey
Mr Hughes spoke to youth MPs from around the country, including Otago,
taking the same position as he did in 1994 as a member of the first
youth parliament.
He is the youngest Member of Parliament after being elected as MP for Otaki at the 2002 election.
After a powhiri the youth MPs, youth press gallery members and 24
international observers made their way into the legislative chamber
where they were welcomed by Governor General Anand Satyanand and
regular members of parliament.
The international observers, from seven pacific nations and Myanmar,
were invited by the government to watch the parliament in practice.
(can’t remember the style for second mention of gov general!!)He joked
that this was good practice in declaring parliament open in practice
for the new government in 2008.
He also told Youth MPs to watch out for him later on the year as he
would appear as a cartoon character in the television series Bro Town,
opening parliament.
Primeminister Helen Clark told the Youth MPs about the history of the legislative chamber.
She said Youth Parliament was a great chance for high school students to experience first hand the power of decision making.
National party deputy leader Bill English said he hoped many youth MPs
would make the transition to ordinary parliament. He told how he had
come to parliament when he was 28 and was still discovering the
benefits of living in a democracy.
Youth Parliament continues today with youth MPs meeting in caucus
groups and a panel discussion where representatives from each of the
five parties will be answering questions from the youth parliament.
Top of page
|