Nine-year-old’s plea to parliament

“I AM 9 years old and worried about the world I am growing up in. We need to stop polluting this world. It is bad for our environment, destroying the atmosphere and making it unhealthy.”

In his passionate plea, which was read in federal parliament, Anglesea’s Evan Gavens then went on to offer some solutions such as a move to renewable energy, ending with “please take action now for the people of my age”.

Corangamite MP Libby Coker said she chose to read Evan’s speech from those submitted to her by young people across her Corangamite electorate, as part of the Raise Our Voice Australia campaign to increase the diversity of voices in decision making institutions.

Ms Coker praised the high standard and broad range of topics covered in the speeches.

“I was so impressed by the standard of the speeches submitted by young people from cross my electorate,” she said.

“It tells me that we have an articulate, thoughtful generation of potential future community leaders coming along.”

She said Evan’s speech touched on promoting renewable energy, reducing carbon emissions, and preserving our natural environment, and ended with the call to action to act for future generations.

“That’s a sentiment everyone, especially those with young children, would echo and support,” Ms Coker said.

“Although I chose to read Evan’s speech I could have read many others. Topics ranged from the need for improved local sporting facilities, to reconciliation with first nations people and hopes for the nation’s future.”

During her speech in parliament, Ms Coker also mentioned Year 7 Oberon Secondary College student Aviva-Luna Phieler, who created a chalk artwork on the footpath outside Ms Coker ‘s office, as part of a School Strike 4 Climate action demonstration.

“She had a strong message for the Australian Government – take action urgently on climate change, or we will experience more extreme weather events such as droughts, bushfires and floods in the future and lose even more biodiversity,” she said.

“Unless we act quickly to reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions, global warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius will be exceeded by the 2030s.

“The significance of climate change and how, we as a nation, respond to that challenge is not lost on our children.”