GORTONMP Brendan O’Connor took time out of his schedule last week to sit down with a group of young adults to discuss some of the issues facing youth in Melbourne’s West.
Mr O’Connor, who was last week appointed the Federal Opposition’s parliamentary secretary for industrial relations (IR) and will assist Julia Gillard in her role as Labor’s new IR spokeswoman, met with six young residents on Wednesday for a roundtable discussion, which touched on public transport, disability access, boredom and the new WorkChoices legislation.
“For as long as I‘m the member in this area I’m interested in trying to encourage civic activism … not entirely to pursue a political career or anything like that, but perhaps just to have a practical application of one’s own ideas,” Mr O’Connor told the group.
Earlier this month his office sent out surveys asking young people living in the electorate, which covers Keilor, Sydenham and Caroline Springs, to identify the issues that most concerned them, and was surprised by the 500 or so responses that came back.
State issues such as transport, education and health topped the list, while foreign affairs generated the least interest among the area’s youth.
No one knew exactly how the discussion night would proceed or exactly what they were there to produce – including Mr O’Connor – but it was clear a youth voice in the West had been seriously lacking for some time.
Most of the hour-long discussion was spent throwing around concerns and possible solutions, and trying to determine a structure and direction for the new youth group.
Student Matthew Lang raised concerns about access to entertainment venues in the outer West, saying people had to travel into Essendon or into the city if they wanted somewhere to spend their Saturday or Friday nights.
In the end, the group resolved to tackle the problematic issue of transport in the West, specifically public transport, with all agreeing to collate a document outlining a strategy and timeframe to tackle the lack of public transport in the West.
One of the difficulties a federal member faces is the three levels of government, and division of services means that many of the concerns raised fell outside the federal sphere of influence – including transport, which is largely a state responsibility.
Mr O’Connor said his office would be happy to play a supporting role, which could include lobbying and talking to state MPs, but would leave the direction up to what he hopes would be a dedicated group of young adults.
“I’m quite happy to help out,” Mr Lang said after the meeting.
“This is the first opportunity that anyone’s said ‘do you want to help out?’ ”
Just having a vehicle to manifest any discontent regarding public transport was good, said 19-year-old student Stacey Nguyen.
Time will tell whether anything tangible comes out of last week’s discussion, but, as Mr O’Connor said on the night, “from little things big things grow”.
