Youth MPs descend on Capital

Youth Affairs Minister Nikki Kaye will tomorrow open Youth Parliament 2013 to 121 Youth MPs and 20 Youth Press Gallery members.

Youth Parliament runs Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 July and each Member of Parliament has selected a Youth MP for a tenure that runs until the end of the year.

“This is New Zealand’s seventh Youth Parliament since it began almost 20 years ago,” Ms Kaye says. “It is an important initiative in engaging young people in leadership. While they are here this week to gain an experience of being an MP that is as close to the real thing as possible, I expect among this group there will be a number of future MPs.”

Each Youth MP has been assigned a speaking opportunity in the House of Representatives and in preparation they have been proactively seeking public opinion from their community.

“The media play an important role in Parliament so Youth Parliament 2013 will also involve 20 Youth Press Gallery members. They will be actively reporting on the activity within the House and the Stuff and Voxy websites have undertaken to publish some of their articles.

“The experience gained in the next two days is a unique opportunity for these young people. It is my hope that they will go back to their communities and use the experience to make a difference.”

The programme for Youth Parliament 2013 can be found on the website www.youthparliament.govt.nz