Page 3336 - Week 09 - Thursday, 22 August 2019
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The futures aspect is aimed at building student capacity for thinking and acting in ways that are necessary to create a more sustainable future. This aspect seeks to promote reflective thinking processes in young people and empowering them to add their voice and design actions that will lead to a more equitable and sustainable future.
As I have mentioned, student agency is a key principle of the future of education strategy, which guides the future of ACT schools. Young people want a greater say in what and how they learn. They see themselves as decision-makers within their learning environments and through this action they are showing that they can influence change.
By sharing their voices, ACT students are exercising their agency and using their capacity to have a voice and take action towards a more equitable and sustainable future. They are giving effect to the learning that they have engaged in through the sustainability cross-curriculum priority. ACT students are applying their learning to this critical juncture in the history of our planet, and they should be applauded for this.
My daughter can be quite brutal in her honesty around this, and very direct with her thoughts on the issues of climate change in our world. She is very blunt with me and says, “Mum, you need to fix this. You need to fix it because there won’t be much left when I grow up.” I encourage her and I encourage children to use their agency to participate in this action, to have their say and have their voices heard.
Shane Rattenbury is right. Kids know much more than adults do, and they are deeply passionate about the challenges, the future and climate change, particularly climate change, and they do want to make change for all of our sakes. I call on all members to support this motion and support student participation in the ACT strike for climate.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Manager of Government Business, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Advanced Technology and Space Industries) (10.50): I want to thank the Deputy Chief Minister and Minister Rattenbury for bringing forward this motion today. We are custodians in the place, and we should always work to leave our city in a better state than we have found it. A key part of achieving this is to govern for young Canberrans. They are our future leaders, but they do not always have a say in what happens in this place.
We should include young people in more decisions, not just climate change. It is something that I have been working towards, particularly in the planning space. Our city is changing, and we need to ensure that we have a city that our young people want to live in.
In relation to climate change, there is no question about ACT Labor’s commitment and passion. We have led the nation and the world. It is because of our efforts that Canberra will be powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity. It is because of ACT Labor that we are reducing emissions, with the aim of achieving zero net emissions. We are committed to building a more sustainable city. We have also shown
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