Don Student Off to Canberra to Contribute to Political Debate
From Tuesday, 19 March to Thursday, 21 March 2019, Don College student Mason will be among 120 Year 11 and 12 students from around Australia attending the 24th National Schools Constitutional Convention (NSCC), being held at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, Canberra. The Convention is supported by all state and territory Ministers and funded by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training.
The topic for the 2019 Convention is ‘A new constitutional preamble for Australia?’. This topic will provide students with the opportunity to explore the present Constitution and whether a preamble is required. A range of stimulus speakers will discuss the issues with students for them to debate with all delegates.
Outcomes from the Convention will be incorporated into a Communiqué that will be presented to the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Sue Lines, for tabling in Parliament, and recorded in Hansard.
As a national delegate, Mason will travel with Nicholas O'Connell from Guildford Young College, Tasmin Chilcott and Rebecca Roberts from Hobart College, and Sasha Massey from St Patrick’s College from Tasmania.
On learning that he had been selected Mason said:
'The National Schools Constitutional Convention is an opportunity for students from across Australia to come together and discuss the need for a new preamble to the Australian Constitution. This is an event that will allow me to collaborate and express opinions about changes that must occur for a preamble that is a true representation of modern Australia.'
Other elements of the program will include a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, The Hon Tony Smith MP, at Parliament House, and a dinner at the High Court of Australia.
Mason