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United Nations Youth Association

Speech to Parliament

The United Nations Youth Association states: Young people are not just the leaders of tomorrow's world- they are a dynamic and diverse demographic that have much to offer today. Their views need to be heard and their skills and abilities not generalised.

I, for one, could not agree more.

Recently, the United Nations Youth Association held its forty-fourth annual youth conference in Adelaide, and I had the pleasure of closing the conference and accepting the Youth Declaration. It is on this topic that I would like to speak today.

The United Nations Youth Association-or UNYA-is a national, community based organisation that aims to increase youth awareness and participation in international issues and political processes. UNYA is one of the only Australian youth organisations that is run entirely by youth for youth, and it has been broadening horizons for almost 40 years.

The major aim of UNYA is to inspire young people to adopt the ideals and objectives of the United Nations, recognising it as the only global organisation that maintains the hope of world peace.

UNYA places school students at the centre of the intrigue and excitement of international affairs in mock sessions of United Nations bodies. It exposes them to world-class speakers on a myriad of topics and provides social events to allow young people to develop their skills both educationally and socially.

The UNYA XLIV National Youth Conference brought together over 130 senior secondary school and tertiary students from around Australia and New Zealand for an exciting week of discussion, debate, negotiation and public speaking in Adelaide. Delegates to the conference had the opportunity to listen to a variety of speakers on a range of current domestic and international issues. Ideas were then discussed in smaller workshop sessions, where delegates were able to voice their opinions in a smaller setting and listen to the opinions of other delegates. The ?nal result was the 2005 Youth Declaration. The Youth Declaration from each national youth conference is a concrete outcome which can then be distributed to government and other youth networks. This Youth Declaration is a collective vision for humanity's future.

The 2005 Youth Declaration covers a range of issues, including human rights, international security and terrorism, globalisation and technology, Australia and the Paci?c, economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, youth affairs and empowerment, education, and Indigenous Australians. Some of the 2005 resolutions are that the detention of asylum seekers should be solely for the purpose of essential security checks and identi?cation; that international security is best promoted by international cooperation and multilateralism, which reinforces the importance of international laws and normative standards; and that voluntary student unionism will have alarming effects in terms of reducing vital funds required for the provision of services. These are just a few of the resolutions in the 2005 declaration.

The declaration is available on the UNYA web site, and I would like to encourage all of my colleagues on both sides of the House to take the time to read the document and to listen to the voice of our youth. I believe that UNYA should be commended for their role in educating and empowering young people to express their views.
I would like to congratulate all of the participants in the UNYA XLIV National Youth Conference. I thank them not just for their attendance and for their participation but also for turning their thoughts and their efforts to improving both our community and our world. I think we would be a much better place if more of society stopped to do this more regularly.

I would like to acknowledge and congratulate Mr Travers Mcleod, who is the past national president of the United Nations Youth Association of Australia. I would also like to acknowledge Mr Alex Rafolowicz, who is the South Australian state president and who does a fantastic job locally. I would especially like to pay tribute to the 2005 conference convenor from South Australia, Penelope Wells. I know that Penelope and her team worked extremely hard to ensure that the Adelaide conference was a great success.
In closing, I would like to commend to this House the United Nations Youth Association and in particular their Youth Declaration. I encourage all members of both houses of this parliament to familiarise themselves with the 2005 Youth Declaration and its contents. The youth of today need a voice and we all must stop and listen to it. UNYA has provided that voice and I think we all have a duty to pay it some attention. I encourage you all to have a read.

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