Auckland Youth MP off to Fiji to distribute aid

By Reuben Smith, Youth Press Gallery, Youth Parliament 2025

Photo Caption: Whangaparaoa MP Hon Mark Mitchell and Youth MP Cecilia Lin

She's being mentored by Whangaparaoa MP Hon Mark Mitchell, attending events like National’s SuperBlues and meeting with members of the community she wouldn’t usually meet like Justices of the Peace and older people.

“I like that I’m not only getting in touch with just young people in the community, which is also very important, but a lot of working age groups too. I haven’t really done any of that before,” says Lin.

Lin is Co-Chair of the Upper Harbour Youth Council, a non-profit organisation set up by North Auckland young people. The Youth Council works closely with the Upper Harbour Local Board on making sure youth get a voice in local governance.

“It’s easier for me to mobilise that space,” she says, about engaging with the community. 

"I’m very impressed with the diversity of perspectives that come out of that space.

“I wouldn’t say all we do is political, that’s not all we talk about, but just in running these events for fun, we’ve talked a lot about things like the Treaty Principles Bill.”

Lin says her passion for politics grew from taking up leadership roles in school.

“I think growing up here as an immigrant, it’s navigating a multicultural upbringing, and that especially when I was in middle school, it made me feel like I had something to prove to myself.

“That pushed my to strive for leadership roles in school.”

“As you do it the more you develop a passion for it and over time you start finding things that just need to be fixed or things that haven’t been planned, that’s why I signed up for Youth Parliament.”

Lin's had previous experience in politics, helping campaign for the Green Party during the 2023 General Election by cold calling and door-knocking.

She described the experience as eye-opening.

“You get to have these really real conversations with people you don’t usually talk to, not just about the Greens but maybe why they switched to other parties.”

“It was a really good time to get in touch with my values and the way that politics happens in New Zealand.”

When Cecilia heads to Youth Parliament in early July, she has the opportunity to do a general debate speech. The topic she’s chosen is drug abuse, an issue she is passionate about.

She says the issue is wide reaching, linking disproportionately affected communities to the places where some of the drugs are being smuggled from, such as the Pacific.

"If we don’t talk about it as young people, often it goes unaddressed", she says.

She says she would like to see a different approach to the issue.

“I’d like to see it not be rooted in just punishment, especially when the vulnerability of young people to drug abuse is often rooted in factors they can’t change.”

On 19 June, she went to Fiji for three days to distribute HIV testing kits to young women.

“I was looking at the issue of drug abuse when I was writing my extended essay for school.

“I did my essay on the geographical factors influencing drug trafficking in Fiji.

I reached out to the Red Cross as a primary source and they said, ‘we’d be totally keen to work with you’”

With the help of the Fijian Red Cross, she’s aiding in the distribution of 1000 packages of HIV self-test kits, condoms and sanitary pads.

“I want to direct it more towards young women in particular, because the issue of drug abuse over there links with sexual exploitation.

“It was mind-blowing when I first heard about it.”

She’s hoping to use her platform at Youth Parliament to gain awareness on the topic to enable more aid to be sent.

“I’m really excited,” she says.

Starting in the nation’s capital Suva, Lin went to some key villages and communities the Red Cross has been supporting.

Cecilia will be joining other Youth MPs from up and down the motu at Youth Parliament in Wellington on 1 July.