Jan Tinetti Labour MP

Youth Parliament was recently held in Wellington and I was extremely fortunate to have an outstanding young woman, Lily Pearce, from Tauranga Girls' College as my Youth MP.

For my column this week I've handed it over to Lily to write about her experience at Youth Parliament to highlight the fantastic experience this offers our young people.

From July 18-20, I had the privilege of representing Jan Tinetti as her Youth MP at the New Zealand Youth Parliament event in Wellington.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about parliamentary processes, exploring the Health Inquiry topic in my select committee, and sitting in Jan's seat in the House.

I'm grateful to have met many fellow Youth MPs from around the country, spoken in the general debate, and voted on the Mock Bill. In the general debate, I spoke about the struggles the youth population face while navigating the world of social media.

It was a privilege to speak about this because I believe that the realities of social media consumption is not talked about enough. Speaking in the house and being filmed on Parliament TV, made for an incredibly special experience.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jan for selecting me as her Youth MP. I have really enjoyed accompanying her as we attended many different events around Tauranga, such as Tech Week's ‘Women in Tech' event, the annual Battle of Gate Pa memorial, the Tauranga Civic ANZAC Memorial, and the Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service Easter Appeal fundraiser, etc.

Jan displayed incredible kindness by making time for me in her busy schedule. It is safe to say my passion for politics and youth leadership has further strengthened through the incredible Youth Parliament experience!