The 25th YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament was a little different this year, with 93 members from all over the state logging on via Zoom to take part in residential sitting week.
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The future leaders debated youth Bills of their creation for three days. Overseen by MPs and the youth governor of Queensland Jack Hill, eight committees debated topics important to young people. Three of those young leaders hailed from the Redlands.
Redlands Youth Parliament member Jadan Rufus said it was the need for change on numerous topics that fueled his passion for politics.
Mr Rufus sits on the health and disability services committee in Parliament.
"I stand for the ability to be able to move around my community freely safely and without restrictions imposed by people hindering me from getting onto public transport," he said.
He named Redlands MP Kim Richards as his role model.
During Parliament residential sitting week the budding politicians chatted to MPs and shared their perspectives on issues in their communities.
"I learned how legislation is passed through Parliament and what needs to be taken into consideration when developing legislation," he said.
Capalaba's Brandon Harvey is in his second year in Queensland Youth Parliament and is part of the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee.
"With our lives becoming increasingly more chaotic and unprecedented I feel it is important to have a voice and to be active in our communities. Because of this, I started to become active in groups, listening to the news and participating in my local community," he said.
Mr Harvey said he would like to see more people supporting Youth Parliament.
"I've always felt that young people aren't as active as they could be with politics and I feel that Youth Parliament can really inspire more young people to go out and make changes to their local communities," he said.
Mr Harvey enjoyed interacting with youth leaders from all over the state and was particularly interested in north Queenslanders.
"I think many people ... are unaware of the experiences of other people ... I feel many Queenslanders who live in urban areas are pretty unaware of the issues facing rural areas," he said.
Madeline Lilly-Howe represented Oodgeroo at Queensland Youth Parliament and is a former Cleveland District State High School school captain. She is studying a Bachelor of Arts/Law.
