Eastbay Health Youth Forum

Te Rere Marae, Whakatane

E nga Mana, e nga reo, e nga karangatanga maha, e nga hau e wha. Tena Koutou, Tena Koutou, Tena Koutou katoa. He mihi tino nui tenei ki a koutou.

Hi, it's great to be here in Whakatane, especially to get away from the hum drum of the Beehive for a little while.

Thanks for inviting me to your forum today.

I really value experiences such as this. It's important for me to get around the country and speak to groups such as yourself to let you know a bit about what I am doing, but more importantly, I want to hear what you are doing, and what you think.

My role as Minister of Youth Affairs is an exciting one, and as you'll be aware, a new job for me.

Two years ago I graduated from University with a BA in politics. One of my goals then was to be a Member of Parliament. I have to say though, my time has come a lot sooner than I had ever imagined. Politics wasn't just a vision for me, it was a passion. I had a drive to be involved in decision making, because I could see that participation was the way to make a difference, and I wanted to stand up for what I believed in.

On leaving University I got a job as a Researcher with New Zealand First. I was working on policy, research, media and speeches for Winston Peters and Tau Henare. The challenges and learning were enormous, at times it was difficult, but it was interesting and constantly stimulating.

Before the election, the Party approached me and asked me to stand as a candidate. Well, I was impressed, but I initially refused. I thought that my age would count against me. I was aksed a second time, and eventually agreed. I decided that if nothing else, an election campaign would be another learning experience.

I was fortunate enough to be placed high enough on our Party List to gain a seat in our first MMP Parliament.

Then within weeks of the election I was thrown into coalition talks with National and Labour. These were hectic weeks for all involved.

As a young, and indeed inexperienced MP, I found myself at the negotiating table. Sitting across the negotiating table were the likes of the Prime Minister and Jenny Shipley. At other times it was Michael Cullen and Mike Moore.

I had certainly never imagined that situation while studying politics at University, only a couple of years earlier!

After the coalition was signed and sealed we saw the make-up of Cabinet. And now, I'm not only a new MP, but also a new Minister. The Minister of Youth Affairs - and as you know, compared with my colleagues I'm probably the best qualified for that particular portfolio.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs has some exciting, but difficult work to deal with. You see, it's not a Ministry that delivers services, like Welfare, Eduction or Health, but it is a Policy advice Ministry.

Youth Affairs has the job of looking across the work of several Government agencies, including education, health, social welfare, and Justice. Its role is to ensure that the Government is working towards policies that give the best possible deal for young people.

The Ministry consults and listens directly to young people and people who work with them, through Student Representatives, questionnaires and the Youth Parliament. This information is researched, and then turned into policy advice for the Government.

The Youth Parliament, to be held later this month is one of the steps in the participation and empowerment of young people. Much like your forum here today.

Every MP in parliament has, over the last few weeks, been selecting a young person to represent them in the House of Representatives on the 26th and 27th of May.

During the Youth Parliament, the Youth MPs will learn about the parliamentary process, take part in select committees, participate in a debate on the floor of the House of Representatives. It wasn't so long ago that I gave my first speech from the House, so I know that the young people are going to have an awesome time, but they'll be a bit nervous too.

The last Youth Parliament held a debate about the drinking age. The Youth MPs that day voted to lower the drinking age to 18. The Ministry of Youth Affairs used many of the arguments from the debate to formulate a submission for the Liquor Review Advisory Committee. This is real youth participation in action.

As you will have recently seen, the Committee has recommended lowering the drinking age to 18.

You have an exciting day lined up today, looking at some really important issues for young people. I can't promise that what you say will end up in legislation, but I do promise to listen, take those thoughts and feelings back to Wellington.

I see participation as one of the most important things that we can do for young people.

This is because I believe in young people. I believe that young people need a better chance, and I believe that young people can deliver much of that themselves.

What I am aiming for is real youth participation and decision making in our communities. What do you want for young people in Whakatane and the wider Bay of Plenty? What do you want to be able to do? What do you want to be allowed to do?

Eventually, I'd like to see a National Youth Council re-emerge in New Zealand, but that can only happen once we have a strong structure of local youth councils that are out there, doing stuff, for and by young people.

Hopefully through forums like this one, we can encourage this kind of atmosphere of people just like us being able to sit down together and make a plan for the future.

You may have heard earlier this week about the release of the latest (1995) youth suicide statistics.

Every single suicide is a tragic loss, but the figures released the other day deeply saddened me. Unfortunately, we saw a 14% rise in youth suicides during 1995.

There is only so much that I can do on this issue. Already the Government is working toward implementing a National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy. This strategy will set down a framework for better government agency cooperation, and demonstrate some practical initiatives for tackling the problem of youth suicide.

One of the models being used in some parts of the country is the One Stop Health Shops. These are one positive step towards promoting the importance of youth wellbeing and mental health. There are others too - school based services, marae based, or even mobile ones.

As a society we need to ensure that young people are able to talk about their problems and plans, whether that be about their perceived image, looks, self worth, position, education, employment, money, race, or sexuality.

There are so many subjects that people are afraid to talk about. Interestingly, we often find that once we have talked about it, that we've achieved a lot, and that we can actually start to deal with the issue.

We've all got a role to play in this. The Government can provide health advice, professional support and coordination, but some of the hard work needs to be done by teachers, families, youth workers and young people themselves.

Another area where I see us needing further support and education is with alcohol, drugs and smoking.

Currently, the hand-over of our "adult" rights and responsibilities are staggered from the ages of 14 - 25. I'd like to see most of these put at 18 years.

I said, rights and responsibilities, because I believe that with every right that you have, you also have a certain amount of responsibility. Responsibility to yourself, your family, your friends and to your community. So the legal drinking age, and the age for buying cigarettes should be the same.

Now, onto drugs. There has been a fairly wide-ranging debate over the last month or so, covering several issues to do with drugs. My views on this have been consistent.

The facts are plain that drugs are dangerous, and especially so to young people. I don't want to keep drugs banned because of some imposed morality. For now, I want it to remain illegal because drugs have serious implications for people, especially while we are growing through one of our most important stages of physical and mental development. That worries me.

So, we need to ensure that all young people are educated about the dangers in drugs, and that we are all able to make an informed choice.

There are several education programmes in place, but some of the most successful ones that I've heard of have been run by groups of peers with the support of adults. Perhaps this is one area which you will look at later today - peer drug and alcohol education?

Another area where that magic age of 18 comes in, is the age at which you can obtain a driving license. Jenny Shipley recently released a report from the Land Transport Safety Authority, which recommended that the age for obtaining a learner's driving license be increased to 17, which would mean that you couldn't obtain a full driver's license until you are at least 18 years old.

This has some implications for young people, especially young people living in rural communities.

If you have something to say about this you are entitled to write to the Land Transport Safety Authority, and submit your views on the proposals outlined in the report. These submissions will be looked at and considered before any change is made to the law.

I'd really like to hear your thoughts on the driving license review.

I've been quite concerned about the services and opportunities that are available for young people living in rural New Zealand. So, if there's anything you want to bring to my attention, feel free.

Something that might be cool for rural young people is the establishment of a youth radio network.

A Youth Radio Network is one way to provide information, share ideas and get together. The Radio Network that I envision would be mainly operated by young people, would be beaming New Zealand music all round the country. It would keep young people up-to-date on what's happening and what they can do.

This proposal is still at the initial phase, and I would hope that preparatory work, looking at the viability of a youth radio network would be carried out within the next year.

Well, that was a few of the things that I'm working on just now, it would take too long to talk about them all. If you want, I can answer some questions, but the most important thing today, is to hear your views in the discussion groups after lunch.

Hopefully I can sit in on some of your discussions, and we can have a more detailed chat then. All the best, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

ENDS