Recently, five students from the Nayland College debating club joined 115 other budding politicians and journalists in New Zealand Model Parliament (NZMP).
The Nayland College students who journeyed to the three-day event in Christchurch were Emerald McCartney, Gabby Gavin, Malachi Ng, Kayla White, and Matilda McMullen. The event was held at the University of Canterbury and ran from the 6th to the 8th of September.
NZMP is a UN Youth NZ event run entirely by young volunteers. UN Youth NZ empowers young people to make meaningful impacts in their communities through interactive education and teaching participants the legislative process of democracy.
The event emulated real-life New Zealand parliament closely. Each participant was assigned to a party and region, or news outlet. The number of seats a party had in parliament was the same as in real life, as was the party’s stances on certain topics.
Members spent time with their party discussing their approach to the proposed ‘The New Zealand Future Forward Bill.’ Participants selected specific topics they were interested in, for example the environmental committee. They then presented their party’s beliefs on these topics at committee times; debating against those from other parties. Amendments could be made during this time. If the issue was extremely controversial, that part of the bill was passed to be further debated in readings of the whole house. During readings, members stated their stances on the bill, what amendments their party would like to make and why. The whole house then voted on the section of the bill passing or failing. If the bill the party valued passed, it was a victory for the party.
Matilda was a Press participant in this event representing Stuff. She “learnt about how the media landscape is transforming in the new media age and how more voices are amplified that weren’t previously, spreading misinformation and how to navigate them.” She had the opportunity to observe rising politicians around her; writing about them and other relevant topics in an informative and engaging way in ‘The Back Bencher,’ with fellow Press.
Gabby reports that she “thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Model Parliament, exploring the campus while engaging with lecturers and debating important political issues.” Gabby highly recommends NZMP to anyone interested in politics.
Emerald echoed Gabby’s sentiments. She “met so many lovely people during the event, and highly encourages others to consider applying for 2025.”
NZMP was an incredible opportunity that improved teamwork, critical thinking, listening, and communication skills of participants. It was a wonderful space to share ideas with like-minded politically passionate students from every corner of Aotearoa.
For more information for those interested in participating in further UN Youth events, their website is https://www.unyouth.org.nz/
By Matilda McMullen