Adjournment: International Youth Day
12 AUGUST 2026
[8.50 p.m.]
Ms BURNET (Clark) - Honourable Speaker, I rise this evening on International Youth Day to celebrate the powerful, articulate and deeply considered voices of young Tasmanians. Earlier this year, 46 exceptional young leaders from across our state gathered right here in this Chamber for the 37th Tasmanian Youth Parliament, and I know that members attended that parliament as well. For a week they debated, negotiated and ultimately passed eight pieces of legislation that were formally handed to members of parliament.
The bills produced by these young people reflect the very real issues that keep Tasmanians up at night. They tackled environmental protection and logging regulations with the Environmental Protection Bill of 2026. They addressed our pressing housing crisis through the Vacant Residential Property Levy Amendment Bill, proposing ways to return long-term vacant houses to the rental market. In transport, they put forward a bold vision to connect our communities by restoring passenger rail across northern and southern Tasmania. They also showed an exceptional depth of compassion and justice. Through the Youth Justice Reforms Bill and the Age of Criminal Responsibility Bill, they urged us to raise the age of criminal responsibility, close Ashley Youth Detention Centre and invest heavily in regional rehabilitation, mental health support and bail services. They called for structural change to eliminate systemic bias in healthcare with the Indigenous Minimum Triage Act, championed pay equity for women and people living with disability and introduced the More Than a Greeting Act to transform how we approach youth mental health education.
When opening Youth Parliament on your behalf, honourable Speaker, I shared a fundamental truth with those participants. Democracy is not a spectator sport. It requires us to show up, to listen and to act. The 46 young Tasmanians who sat in our seats demonstrated that they are not merely the leaders of tomorrow, they are the leaders right now. They brought rigour, empathy and immense courage to these debates. On International Youth Day, I want to thank the Youth Parliament facilitators, I want to thank the parliamentary education team and the entire Youth Parliament Task Force for making this program thrive for so long, for 37 years. Most importantly, to the youth parliamentarians of 2026, we have received your bills, we have heard your calls to action, and we thank you for your leadership. Now it's up to your parliament to listen.