Banks Peninsula Youth MP Advocates for Carers Support

By Josephine Lilley, Youth Press Gallery, Youth Parliament 2025

Photo Caption: Ruby Love-Smith, Youth MP

Young people of Aotearoa are wanting their voices heard within our governance, but to be heard is to be seen, and to be seen is to be accurately represented. Who could be a better representative of our country’s youth than the youth themselves? Meet Ruby Love-Smith, Tracey McLellan’s youth MP for the Banks Peninsula electorate, whose voice will be heard within the walls of Parliament this July at the Youth Parliament 2025 event. Her focus? Addressing the growing need of support for unpaid carers in Aotearoa, a mission she pursues passionately as a member of the Carers Support Parliamentary Working Group.

New Zealand Youth Parliament is a triennial event held by New Zealand’s Parliament and the Ministry of Youth Development. Each MP across the country selects a young person to represent their community over the four-month tenure, totalling 123 bright minded rangatahi.

In the past, a key part of Youth Parliament has been the Mock Bills and Mock Select Committees; however, the programme will look a little different this year. Youth Parliament 2025 has introduced Parliamentary Working Groups (PWG), modelled on Parliamentary cross-party groups, as a replacement to these features, enhancing personal engagement among Youth MPs. Love-Smith has been working as part of the Carers Support PWG, with the inquiry topic: “How could New Zealand better prepare to address the growing population of carer support that will be required in the future?” To guide her advocacy, Love-Smith has been gathering perspectives from those in her community.

After spending time engaging with her community, Love-Smith has listened to their concerns about the lack of adequate support for carers. "One of the main things that I’m hearing over and over again is there isn’t enough funding. There isn’t enough funding for paid carers when unpaid caregivers need to work, and there isn’t enough funding for respite care.” She believes that “making sure that our carers feel supported and are acknowledged for the sacrifices they make for their whānau and friends” is a crucial first step towards addressing the growing need for carer support in Aotearoa. With the issue of respite care in mind, Love-Smith believes the criticism around using such funding to allow carers a brief break is unfair. “This is the one luxury they allow themselves.”

Love-Smith's passion for politics extends beyond her admirable work as a Youth MP, and her interests in politics and social justice sparked within her at the early age of seven. Being a student at Redcliffs Primary when the school was supposed to be shut down due to the Christchurch earthquakes – but didn’t – she was “able to see when our community came together, we were actually able to change the Government’s mind.” Since this moment, she has contributed a considerable amount of work within her local politics.

At the age of fifteen she joined as a volunteer of the Labour election campaign, and additionally as a member of the party itself, allowing her input to be heard around policies taken to elections. She is now an executive for Young Labour Christchurch, and an executive on the Labour Party’s Women’s sector. “I get to advocate for youth issues as well as women’s issues, making sure our party space is inclusive to everyone, which is really cool.” Love-Smith isn’t afraid to be the voice of change for the young women of Aotearoa, and is hopeful that “In the future, I’d like to be in the position where I am able to continue to advocate about the issues I’m passionate about – whether that’s in a local central government role, or maybe even charity or non-government organisations.”

Her commitment to carers and her community will undoubtedly be showcased furthermore in the following weeks. With the Youth Parliament in-person event fast approaching, Ruby Love-Smith stands as a powerful example of what young advocates are capable of when their voices are not only invited to the table, but ready to lead it.