SCHOOLS STATE
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
“Population growth is good for Australia”
Legislative Assembly Chamber
Parliament House
Melbourne
11 October 2010
Ruyg, Gabby Ballarat High School
Spong, Claire Ballarat High School
Di Natale, Jessica Balwyn High School
Dimopoulos, Sam Balwyn High School
Ismail, Jordan Balwyn High School
Katsaris, George Balwyn High School
Nguyen, Trami Balwyn High School
Sherer, Haadi Balwyn High School
Hamilton, Jessica Bellarine Secondary College
Maronian, Karina Bellarine Secondary College
Preston, Kate Bellarine Secondary College
Siotos, Katherine Bellarine Secondary College
Walton, Stephanie Bellarine Secondary College
Bashford, James Buckley Park College
Everett, Andrew Camberwell Grammar School
Li, Tom Camberwell Grammar School
Wang, Mian Camberwell Grammar School
Brand, Joel Caulfield Grammar School
Burstin, Asher Caulfield Grammar School
Kaladis, William Caulfield Grammar School
Owen Pozzan, Neneh Caulfield Grammar School
Young, Georgina Caulfield Grammar School
White, Bryan Damascus College, Ballarat
Graham, Adam Eaglehawk Secondary College
Hastings, Ashleigh Eaglehawk Secondary College
Peterson, Kate Eaglehawk Secondary College
Savage, Tom Eaglehawk Secondary College
Wong, James East Doncaster Secondary College
Cameron, Justice Elwood College
Dedman, Huw Elwood College
Haywood, Erin Elwood College
Bazzo, Leonardo Pereira Elwood College, Brazil
Da Costa Castellari, Lucas Elwood College, Brazil
Vila, Andre Elwood College, Brazil
Ochao, Paulina Elwood College, Mexico
Simon, Marlinde Elwood College, North Germany
Norderval, Vilde Elwood College, Norway
Muscheidt, Rosa Elwood College, South Germany
Foelmi, Daniela Elwood College, Switzerland
Colthup, Rhys Heathmont College
Dreux, Beau Heathmont College
Wurf, Jordan Heathmont College
Aslan, Melek Isik College, Eastmeadows campus
Dikmen, Sade lsik College, Eastmeadows campus
Ilhan, Fatmanur Isik College, Eastmeadows campus
Kaya, Sibei Isik College, Eastmeadows campus
Ozcan, Aylin Isik College, Eastmeadows campus
Samat, Asli Isik College, Eastmeadows campus
Sanli, Hati Isik College, Eastmeadows campus
Senbay, Sena Isik College, Eastmeadows campus
Desiato, Alahna Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School
Gailiss, Amanda Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School
Collopy, John Koonung Secondary College
Hamswestop, Zoe Koonung Secondary College
Santilli, Thomas Koonung Secondary College
Sturk, Sharlene Kurnai College, Gep campus
Hristova, Elena Lalor North Secondary College
Mansour, Dina Lalor North Secondary College
Truong, Kenny Lalor North Secondary College
Tsam, Kayla Lalor North Secondary College
Vats, Kritika Lalor Secondary College
Panayiotou, Katerina Lara Secondary College
Dixon, Annabel Melbourne Girls Grammar School
Holdenson, Virginia Melbourne Girls Grammar School
Howe, Georgie Melbourne Girls Grammar School
Kuo, ChunTung Melbourne Girls Grammar School
Sellars Jones, Eliza Melbourne Girls Grammar School
Vautin, Alexandra Melbourne Girls Grammar School
Hyde, Nathan Neerim District Secondary College
Bell, Ruby Northcote High School
Cornwallis, Charles Northcote High School
DakisCorcoran, Luke Northcote High School
Ditman, Martin Northcote High School
Susic, Azra Northcote High School
Bain, Fleur Overnewton Anglican Community College
DensleyWalker, Holly Overnewton Anglican Community College
Kimpton, Sarah Overnewton Anglican Community College
Le, Jessica Overnewton Anglican Community College
Perry, Olivia Overnewton Anglican Community College
Spiteri, Nathan Overnewton Anglican Community College
Tsiolis, Victoria Overnewton Anglican Community College
Visser, Dylan Overnewton Anglican Community College
White, Molly Overnewton Anglican Community College
Horsley, Georgia Rushworth P–12 College
Jenkins, Breese Rushworth P–12 College
Bradley, Kayla Sebastopol College
Cain, Shani Sebastopol College
Cliff, Hanna Sebastopol College
Steiner, Monique Shelford Grammar School
Zvedeniuk, Sonia Shelford Grammar School
Lau, Monique StCatherine’s School
LaMari, Emma StColumba’s College
Samuel, Jessica StColumba’s College
Asquith, Annie Strathmore Secondary College
Jackson, Ned Strathmore Secondary College
OvertonSkinner, Thomas Strathmore Secondary College
Ngo, Natalie Mac.Robertson Girls High School
Zhu, Ling Mac.Robertson Girls High School
Gicevski, Daniel Thomastown Secondary College
Makaesi, Mark Thomastown Secondary College
Bartram, Katrina Traralgon College
Arenas, Gabriela University High School
Gibbons, Nicholas University High School
Herbert, David University High School
Kroikenberger, Yolanda University High School
Munari, Ellen University High School
Tester, Emily Westbourne Grammar School
Patten, Karina Whittlesea Secondary College
Williams, Rhiannon Whittlesea Secondary College
The CHAIR (MsBarker)— Good morning. My name is Ann Barker. I am the member for Oakleigh, and in this Parliament I have also been very lucky to be the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, so I am reasonably used to sitting in the chair. I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we are gathered, the people of the Kulin nations, and I pay my respects to their elders past and present.
I welcome you to the Parliament of Victoria and particularly to the Legislative Assembly. Later you will hear from Matthew Guy, who is from what we in this chamber call the other place, which is the Legislative Council, as well as from Jaala Pulford. This is the chamber in which governments are formed. It is the house of the people, as in the Westminster tradition. I welcome you here, and I very much look forward to what is going to be discussed by you and brought back to this chamber for discussion this afternoon. It is a topic which is very topical and very important, both to the state of Victoria and of course to Australia.
I congratulate the organisers of today, and I will probably do it again later on. In the times I have been involved in these constitutional conventions and in the YMCA Youth Parliaments I have found, particularly with the constitutional conventions, that you tackle issues of very high importance to our state and to our nation. I have been very pleased with the comments and the discussion that comes back to the chamber. Congratulations on the topic; it is a very important one.
It is now my pleasure to introduce our first speaker. Steve Herbert is the member for Eltham and Parliamentary Secretary for Education. Steve was raised in Glenroy and has lived in the northeastern suburbs for most of his life. He is a qualified teacher, and he has taught at schools in the northern suburbs. He became a member of the ALP in 1983 and has worked in senior advisory roles with both state and federal governments, beginning in 1990. Shortly after his election to the seat of Eltham in 2002 Steve was appointed as chair of the parliamentary Education and Training Committee. Between 2002 and 2006 the committee undertook substantial investigations into ways of improving education provision and outcomes for young people.
Following the Bracks government’s reelection in 2006 Steve was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment and in 2007 Parliamentary Secretary for Education, assisting the Minister for Education, Bronwyn Pike. In 2010 his portfolio was expanded to include skills and workplace reform. As I indicated, Steve has represented the Eltham district since 2002, and aside from his commitment to education, which I know is very strong, Steve is passionate about conserving and protecting our environment.
MrHERBERT (Parliamentary Secretary for Education)— Thank you, Chair, and may I also acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which meet here today, the Kulin nation, and pay my respects to their elders both past and present.
Welcome to the 16thstate constitutional convention held today in Victoria’s Legislative Assembly. Your opinions and ideas will join the many that have been debated in this chamber since 1855. Legislation relating to triumphs and tragedies, whether they be Black Saturday, Ash Wednesday, the Black Friday fires, the Olympic Games or the Commonwealth Games, has all been debated in this chamber over that time. Just last week we had our final sitting of this Parliament here in the chamber where politicians such as myself were debating a range of legislation of importance to the state. In fact I notice that Kenny Truong from Lalor North is sitting in the seat that I would normally occupy here.
I also acknowledge some of the guests who are here today. I know you will hear from them, but I would like to acknowledge firstly MrMatthewGuy, who is the shadow Minister for Planning from the other place, as the Chair said. I welcome Matthew.
Maybe one day you will join us here; we will see.
I also acknowledge the Chair, MsAnn Barker, who I work with regularly on educational issues. She is also passionate about education. DrBob Birrell is here. He is the reader in sociology at Monash University and an esteemed academic, who is known not just in Victoria but across Australia and perhaps internationally.
We will be joined later by MsJaala Pulford from the other place, who is the Parliamentary Secretary for Regional and Rural Development, Industry and Trade, and MrMartin Dixon, who is the shadow Minister for Education, will also join us.
Whilst this chamber is normally filled with Liberal, Labor and Nationals politicians debating legislation, today we have 108students representing 32secondary schools— state schools, Catholic schools and independent schools. They are schools right across the breadth of Victoria. In particular I would like to welcome those from the nine nonmetropolitan schools who have travelled some distance to be here to take part in the debate today.
You were chosen from some 1800students who attended 14recent regional conventions and four model United Nations conventions where you debated all sorts of topics, ranging from refugees to whether we should change the flag. Some were also selected via the YMCA Youth Parliament, and others through VicSRC, the student representative body in Victoria.
I congratulate every one of you for being here. It is quite an achievement and, I hope, an honour for you to partake in debate in this chamber today. Some 25 of you will go on to the national convention, which will be held in Canberra in March next year. I encourage all of you who have a great interest in public policy and debate in politics to try to participate in that national convention where— who knows?— you may run into MsGillard or MrAbbott, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, in the corridors of Canberra. I worked in Canberra for nearly seven years, and it is a great place to visit. I have never had the opportunity to debate in the chambers there, so it will be a great honour for those of you who do.
Today’s topic is an incredibly appropriate one: population growth, is it good for Australia? It is topical, and it is at the top of governments’ agendas right around Australia. There are many views and a lot of catchcries: ‘big Australia’, ‘sustainable Australia’, ‘shrink Australia’. There are a whole heap of tag lines, but beneath those tag lines are the human side of it and the economic side of it. There is the human side of hope and aspirations for a better life, there is the economic side of job growth in a strong economy and there is the environmental side of what is sustainable and what is not. These are some of the tag lines that are put and some of the issues behind them.
I think you will enjoy the debate. As I said, it is an important debate. It is estimated that by the time you reach my age the world’s population will be between 8 and 10.5billion people. In Australia our population is expected to swell to about 35million by 2050. That is a lot of people. Within that, that is where the debate is. Some people see that a bigger population means more diverse cities, stronger regional centres, greater opportunities for housing and a stronger economy for jobs. Others look at it and say, ‘Look at the impact on our infrastructure and our environment. Will that population put too much weight on the basic core of our society and the way we operate?’.
Today is where you come in and debate those issues. There is no one answer, but there is strength in the quality of debate and trying to work out fact from fiction and clarifying the lines between what is truth and what is not, and I welcome you to do that.
You are also lucky today to have three guest speakers who are deeply immersed in this topic— in research, in planning and in the whole gamut of debate around population growth— to set you on track for the debate later on. I hope the insights that you get from today’s debate will be challenging— that they will challenge your views and will help shape your opinions into the future.
We should have in the press gallery today students from Thornbury High School, who are documenting the forum for the Channel31 program Class TV. There they are up there. They will be documenting the proceedings, and it will be shown on Channel31 Class TV. Many years ago I was a teacher at the then ThornburyDarebin Secondary College. Even then it had a very strong media focus. Thank you for coming and documenting today’s forum.
I also thank the state planning committee and host schools for the work that they put into organising today and other similar events. Most importantly once again I thank you, the delegates, for taking part, for taking time off school, for doing the research and for putting a lot of work into clarifying the issues and your opinions. I hope you find the debate exhilarating and useful. I am sure it will go forward to informing others about this incredibly important topic.
Lastly, Hansard staff are recording the transcripts, as they do in all the debate in this chamber. The transcript will be available in due course.
Without further ado, it is my great pleasure to declare the 2010 Schools State Constitutional Convention officially open. Thank you.
Delegates applauded.
The CHAIR— Thank you, Steve. On normal occasions in this chamber it is inappropriate to acknowledge people in the gallery, but being aware of the great work at Thornbury in past years in recording I am very happy for that to occur today. We are not running through our normal standing orders.
We will now move to introduce the topic: population growth is good for Australia. We have three keynote speakers, and I will introduce our first keynote speaker shortly. At the end of that time you will have the opportunity to ask questions of all of the speakers. The purpose of this is to provide you with an overview of national and state population issues and considerations, so we will hear a range of arguments and considerations for and against population growth. I hope those issues that are put forward help you sort out the facts from the opinions.
It is my great pleasure to introduce our keynote speaker, DrBob Birrell. Bob Birrell has a degree in economics from the University of Melbourne, in history from the University of London and a PhD in sociology from Princeton University. Most of his academic work has been at Monash University, and since 1991 this work has been focused on running the centre for population and urban research, where he is the founding director. He is joint editor of the demographic journal People and Place. DrBirrell has wideranging interests and research experience in issues to do with population growth and change, including livability, the labour market and education. He has been engaged in public debate about Australia’s population policy for many years, he has been an adviser to successive Australian governments since the 1980s and he was a member of the commonwealth government’s National Population Council from 1987 to 1993. He is a regular contributor to radio and the print media, where his opinion and research is highly valued. I welcome DrBob Birrell.