Blue Mountains Youth Parliament Rep Report

I have just returned home from a week of debating bills andamendments at YMCA NSW Youth Parliament. It was a fantastic week full of inspiration, important issues from our communities and fun. I furthered my knowledge from Junior Parliament last year and became more confident in public speaking and more informed of matters from all over NSW.

My committee, Rural and Regional Affairs, passed our bill on CoalRail Transportation, in both the Legislative Assembly and the LegislativeCouncil with very little opposition. We were all very happy and at the end of the week our committee won an award for innovation!

Some other issues we debated were: standardising suspension amongschools, indigenous carers, the right to silence, volunteer compensation,disability services, community sporting activities, sustainable energy and much more.

We also had question time just like in real parliament andregional debates where everyone had the chance to speak about theircommunities, as well as discussing matters of public importance.

As you can see, it was a jam - packed week! I had one of the bestexperiences of my life learning and meeting wonderful young people from all over NSW.

Thanks you so much for sponsoring me to attend this fabulousprogram and I would be happy to talk to you about the topics we debated or anything about the program.

Lylapearl Appel