Zaneta Mascarenhas MP
House of Representatives, Parliament House, Canberra
Statements by Members
Mental health, housing, AI, social cohesion and the future of workâthese are issues year 11 students in my electorate tackled head-on at the Swan Young Changemakers Conference. Students brought bold, thoughtful ideas grounded in lived experience. They may be too young to vote, but they are not too young to be heard. To the delightful baby that we have in the gallery: you are never too young to be heard on the floor of the parliament!
This is a generation that has a unique insight on known challenges, such as balancing good pay and pursuing your passion, and newer issues like having quality online content as opposed to 'AI generated slop'; making social media work for connection and social good, not advertisers' profits and social harm.
This was the second youth conference that I've hosted at the amazing Pawsey supercomputer centre. Behind us, machines were processing data from the stars. In front of us, young humans' minds were processing the future. I look forward to presenting these ideas to my ministerial colleagues. And a special thanks to my team; the young mentors and facilitators; Aditi, Mark and the Pawsey team; Senator Whittaker and Senator Walker; and of course the amazing students themselves.
