A Bomaderry High School student had his 90 seconds in the spotlight when a speech he wrote was read out by Federal Member for Gilmore Fiona Phillips in Parliament House this week.

The speech, written by 12-year-old Vihan Patel, was the winner of the Raise Our Voice in Parliament 2024 competition in the Gilmore electorate and was presented by Mrs Phillips as a 90-second statement in the Federation Chamber on Monday.

After attending mentoring sessions at a number of schools in the electorate, the federal member received dozens of entries in the competition, with youth aged from five to 25 years invited to have their voices heard on the national stage.

Now in its fourth year, the annual Raise Our Voice in Parliament campaign shines a unique spotlight on the diverse voices, views, and opinions of Australia’s young people who possess invaluable insights but are often overlooked in political and policy debates.

More than 90 MPs and senators, spread across every Australian state and territory, took part in this year’s campaign

Young people were invited to submit a speech on the topic: “What do you want your community to look like in the next ten years, and what can the next parliament do to achieve it?”.

Mrs Phillips chose Vihan’s speech because it related to an issue his family had experienced personally, and also suggested ways to address a problem in his community.

“I was most impressed with Vihan’s mature and inspiring words,” she said.

“He showed compassion and also presented ideas that would benefit and enhance his community as a whole.

“It’s so great to give young people a chance to amplify their thoughts about issues that are important to them, and I was really pleased to read Vihan’s speech in parliament this week.

“I wish him well in the future.”

Vihan is the son of the son of Darshen and Ruchita Patel. You can read his speech below.

“Hi,

My name is Vihan.

I am 12 years old and I am from the electorate of Gilmore.

I have been noticing lately that there have been a lot of water flooding problems with the winter season having heaps of rain.

I have even faced one of them where my garage flooded with water up to the car’s wheels and we spent five hours cleaning everything up.

So, my problem is to upgrade the drainage system.

In 10 years I would like the community to create a rain garden. They are attractive and can be made easily by maintaining everything.

They promote the growth of native, flood-tolerant perennial plants.

The second one, which I personally think is the best is, planting trees in community gardens or even parks.

They come with many benefits like helping reduce flooding.

Statistics say that trees minimize surface water runoff up to 80 per cent more than asphalt.

Their extensive roots system helps absorb deeper into the ground, and help absorb the water flooded to help the tree grow and make community gardens or parks beautiful living places.

Parliament can also build more Channel Drains to move water to an area where it can safely be pushed back into the environment.

Those are the ways to reduce flooding and how I want some of these techniques in our community in the next 10 years.”

The initiative, spearheaded by the social enterprise Raise Our Voice Australia, amplifies youth participation in politics and democracy by inviting discussion on issues important to them and addressing the changes needed to tackle existing barriers innovatively.

It also features workshops and opportunities alongside the speech competition to teach young people how to influence government and policies.

Photo: Federal Member for Gilmore Fiona Phillips with Raise Our Voice in Parliament Gilmore winner Vihan Patel and his proud parents Darshen and Ruchita.

Media contact: Katrina Condie 0437 662 967