Reception for Youth Members Attending the 2016 YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament

Mr Nelson Savahn, Youth Governor; representatives of the State Council of YMCAs and YMCA of Brisbane; Youth Members and your wonderfully supportive Mentors and Executive. It is Kaye’s and my great pleasure to welcome you all to Government House tonight.

With respect to Elders, I also acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbul and the Jagera peoples.

Great care is taken in preparing these annual receptions in support of the YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament – from issuing invitations, to preparing for you all fine Queensland food, to finding the rights words to say before some of our State’s brightest young minds! – we at Government House do this in the hope that the convivial atmosphere here provides some relief from the pressures of the at-times combative atmosphere of the parliamentary chamber during your Residential Week!  

It is also Kaye’s and my fervent hope that while you are here you absorb some of the rich heritage of this estate – an estate which has played host to many of Queensland’s most important historical moments, an estate at which 16 Governors have now fulfilled their crucial constitutional duties, and an estate from where, of late, Governors have also sent the occasional Tweet…

(And it also happens to be an estate from where Youth Governors too have sent the occasional Tweet – my staff having told me that Mr Savahn dutifully followed the official instructions during his visit to last year’s Christmas Lights here at Fernberg, Tweeting a selfie accompanied by the official hashtag.)

I applaud the Council of YMCAs, the Department of Communities and the Queensland Parliamentary Service for their ongoing support of this program.

Knowledge of our governmental and parliamentary systems is a litmus key of our society’s future cohesion and success.

A breakdown in that knowledge base really does risk untold turmoil, and that this program has been beneficially educating young Queenslanders in this area now for 21 years deserves special commendation.

Of course, this week’s parliamentary Residential Week, where, among other things, you debate the bills I know you have been diligently working on since April, is just one part of the wider QYP experience, which also focusses on community and personal development.

This is a great legacy, and these experiences will no doubt serve you all well as you go forward in your personal and professional lives, just as it has for the program’s inaugural Youth Premier, now Minister of State, Kate Jones.

Once again, Kaye and I really are so glad to host you all tonight, particularly those of your from electorates outside the South East metropolis. We look forward to talking to many of you, and we wish you all a memorable week. Thank you.