Thursday, 18 April 2024

Cameron Barnes

The PRESIDENT (09:46): I am now very pleased to call on Cameron Barnes to address the house.

Cameron Barnes escorted into chamber by Usher of the Black Rod.

Cameron BARNES: Honourable President, honourable members, I am very pleased to be here today. I have been invited to speak to you as the 2023 Young Citizen of the Year for Echuca and the Campaspe shire. I was a member of the local youth action group and am the current chair of the local Rover Scouts unit. Youth in Campaspe shire have an abundance of sporting opportunities – football, cricket, basketball, netball and many more. For youth that are not so sporting, there are groups such as the junior CFA, martial arts, Scouts and Guides. We are lucky to have not one but three rivers across the shire that provide youth with a place to swim, canoe, SUP, fish and camp. For many it is just a short walk or bike ride to the river. Whilst these are all great activities, they mainly provide youth with one to two outings a week, so we need more variety of activities to keep youth engaged and active.

Our shire council, through the youth action group, has a number of great projects underway, including the Campaspe Youth Charter, media team, Get Cultured, leadership training, Make It Yours, Get Informed, Get Down to Business and community organisation development. These are also great initiatives; however, again, only a small number of youth engage in these activities, so we need to find a way to encourage more youth to participate. Many of the activities available to youth are run by volunteers. According to the 2021 census, 17 per cent of the population of the Shire of Campaspe reported doing some form of volunteer work. This shows how ready individuals are to contribute to their community. This includes sporting coaches, Scout leaders, firefighters, SES and search and rescue. We heavily rely on volunteers in our community, and these people are role models for our youth.

Sadly, there are youth that have not yet found activity that they enjoy, and with boredom comes crime. So we need to find more activities of a broader range to ensure that we engage all youth in fulfilling activities. Currently for some activities youth have to travel to larger towns such as Bendigo and Shepparton or even Melbourne. Not all youth would have the ability to travel, so we need to make these opportunities available to them locally. We also need to provide youth with a place they can gather – a youth hub – where they can have fun and support each other, so there is still work to be done to support youth in the area. We have started to address mental health issues with the opening of Headspace in Echuca, but there is still a need for more mental health services to support youth. There are also less opportunities for youth in regional areas when they leave school, so many move away for university or for better paying work. We need more employment opportunities locally so that youth stay within the community to become the next generation of volunteers that the community relies on so heavily.

The greatest advantage of growing up in a regional area such as Campaspe shire is that you get to know the people within your community. You become familiar with the staff that serve you at the supermarket and in the restaurants. They greet you with a familiar smile, and you feel like you are part of a community, not just a customer.

In closing, youth in the Shire of Campaspe benefit greatly from the activities and initiatives that are currently in place, and with continued development of youth activities we are on the right course for youth to grow into caring citizens of the future. I hope you enjoy your time in Campaspe shire. Thank you.

Members applauded.

The PRESIDENT: On behalf of all the chamber, I thank Tara and Cameron for their wonderful contributions to today’s hearing. It is clear you are already leaders in your community, but it is probably clear to us all that you will be leaders of your community for the next 40-plus years, when I am 110. Once again, thank you.