Eve Ferris is the first youth member for Farrer.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
She can’t legally go into a bar.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
She can’t even vote.
But none of that stopped Eve Ferris kicking open the front doors of the federal parliament and speaking up on behalf of her community.
Being 16 is not an obstacle, rather, it’s an incentive for this Moama student, who has just taken a seat in the House of Representatives to push the cause of making the bureaucracy actually work for the people.
From bumping shoulders with the prime minister and opposition leader to meeting politically minded teens from across the nation, Eve enjoyed an action-packed week as the inaugural youth member for Farrer.
“I really like politics and have always been invested in them,” she said.
“My mum works in (Victorian) parliament, and I hear a lot about politics over the dinner table, which slowly built up my interest.
“I want to study politics to some extent at uni, and I thought being the youth MP would be a great opportunity to learn more about how parliament actually works.”
With a little encouragement from her mum, Eve put in an application, beating out thousands to become one of 150 youth MPs.
Youth parliament has existed at a state level for some time, but while the Victorian program focuses on developing draft bills affecting youth issues, the federal program centres on building civic knowledge and encouraging participation with democratic institutions.
Eve absolutely loved the experience, identifying question time as a particular highlight.
She’d grown up watching the verbal sparring matches on TV but having it play out in front of her was eye-opening.
“It was so funny and mostly just political theatrics,” she said.
“What happens in question time stays there apparently because we all walked out and they’re all mingling.”
Eve loved watching the theatrics of question time play out in front of her.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
Despite question time being her overall highlight, Eve’s enduring memory of the trip was speaking in the House of Representatives.
She delivered an adjournment debate, advocating for the expansion of the No Wrong Door approach to crisis support.
The approach focuses on supporting and connecting people with the right services instead of referring them elsewhere to navigate the system alone.
“I talked about how asking for help shouldn’t be the hardest part of getting it,” Eve said.
“Someone shouldn’t have to go through five levels of being told ‘no, sorry, we can’t help you, ask this person instead’, it should be easy to get support when it’s needed.”
That wasn’t Eve’s only bit of advocacy for the week.
She loved meeting her fellow youth MPs but found most of them had no knowledge of the challenges facing regional communities.
While political views were never explicitly mentioned, Eve found some of her fellow members had preconceptions about rural communities because of the way they voted.
“Lots of people don’t see the rural issues the individual members are advocating for,” she said.
“You could see the moment it kind of clicked when I was explaining the politics of our region to people, and by the end of it, they’re saying ‘I can see why people may vote for a certain party over one which is more popular in the cities.’
“That was one of the best parts, getting to talk to politically minded people with an interest in the same things I have.”
Eve left Canberra with a bolstered resume, new friends from around the country, and a far greater knowledge of how the democracy sausage is made.
She said being Farrer’s inaugural youth MP was an honour she would carry with her for the rest of her life, and she wanted to use her position to inspire her peers to engage with the political world around them.
“Politics dictate the future of our country,” she said.
“It makes a difference if us young people are engaged because in a couple of years time, we’ll be voting.
“It’s important for young people to at least have a basic understanding of what’s going on in parliament so that they can make an informed choice.
“Either way, they’ll be voting, but I think it’s so crucial they do so with the knowledge of who and what they’re actually endorsing by favouring one candidate or party.”
Though there has been no official word on whether the National Youth Parliament program will run again, Eve is encouraging anyone even slightly interested to keep an eye out for when applications reopen.
“If you can, apply for it,” she said.
“Engage in the opportunities, do all the speeches, put in your two cents.
“I was definitely nervous at first, but everyone was so encouraging, and I can’t recommend the experience enough.”
10°C