Climate change, housing, cost-of-living and mental health are some of the key issues facing young people today, according to one of Logan’s youth parliament representatives.
The 2023 Youth Member for Springwood and the Youth Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Matthew Peacock, said young people were “desperate for a future of safety, stability, and equity”.
“And they have plenty of ideas of how these targets can be achieved,” Mr Peacock said.
“The young people of Logan are not so dissimilar from wider Queensland.
“Struggling with the availability of medical, dental, and mental health services, housing affordability and cost of living pressures, the threat of climate change, the widening inequalities between First Nations Australians and broader Australia.
“And the need for justice reform and preventative services, such as access to education and outside of school hours recreational activities.”
Passionate about helping others and advocating for grassroots issues, Mr Peacock, 20, joined the Queensland youth parliament in 2022.
He was born and bred in Logan, attending Slacks Creek State School and later Springwood State High School, and is now studying paramedicine at university.
He works as a sports and events medic and is an SES volunteer.
“I have been interested in leadership from a young age, and without sounding too cliché, have always wanted to help other people,” Mr Peacock said.
So, he joined the YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament.
The program offers 93 people, aged 15 to 25, the opportunity to speak up for their communities and learn first-hand about parliamentary processes.
Mr Peacock described the experience as “life changing”.
“I have been incredibly proud to represent the electorate of Springwood, covering from Shailer Park in the south, along the M1 to Rochedale South in the North, and out East as far as Sheldon and Mount Cotton,” he said.
“The young people of the electorate are fantastic at identifying issues, and workshopping ideas to fix them.
“But without the knowledge on how to move forward, or the motivation to pursue such feats in a system that can often feel impossible to change and out of reach for youth is incredibly deterring.”
Over a six-month period, youth parliament members work with local MPs and members of the community to draft their own ‘bill’ about an important issue.
In the past, ideas established in youth parliament have become government policy.
Nominations for the 2024 youth parliament season are open now, and close on 9 February.
Mr Peacock encouraged locals to get involved.
“You don’t need to know anything about parliament or politics, or even want to go down that career path,” he said.
“I have learnt and grown so much as a person over the last two years, thanks to my involvement in what was not only an intellectually stimulating program, but also a very visceral, passionate experience.
“Amongst all the serious moments, there was plenty of fun to be had and memories to be made, and I have left the program with new lifelong friends.”
