Report from the 7th Commonwealth Youth
Parliament
By Alexandra Atkins
In November 2015 I was lucky to be selected to represent young people of Wales at
the 7th Commonwealth Youth Parliament (CYP) in Darwin, Australia on behalf of the
Wales Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).
How I was selected for the 7th CYP
The process to being selected was not easy! I had
to send my CV and a covering later to the Cross
Party of Assembly Members who are part of the
CPA Wales Branch. I was lucky to be shortlisted
for an interview with the 4 Assembly Members.
Whilst waiting for my interview I was the most
nervous I have ever been but felt I had given my
all in the interview, although I was sure I would
not have been selected as I had met the other
candidates at the interview who were brilliant. But
when I was contacted to say I had been selected
to attend the 7th Commonwealth Youth
Parliament, I was over the moon and broke down
crying in emotional happiness!
What is the Commonwealth Youth Parliament?
The Commonwealth is split into 9 different
regions and Wales is within the British Isle and
Mediterranean Region (BIMR). Some of the
countries within this region included; St Helena,
Falkland Islands, the Isle of Man, Jersey, the
United Kingdom and Scotland.
The purpose of the Commonwealth Youth
Parliament, CYP, is to allow young people from
all over the Commonwealth to experience
political life in a mock Parliamentary setting;
from creating political parties, writing
manifestos, looking at policies, establishing a
Government, an Opposition Party, question time
and debates, and creating a Bill of Law.
At this year’s CPA, there were young people from places such as Kenya, Cook Islands
and Saint Helena, most of which I did not have a clue where they were…but that’s
where google came in handy!
Before arriving in Darwin, there was a
lot of reading that I needed to do so I
was up to speed with the process of
the CYP. Some of the things I was
required to do was look at the
Manifestos for the political party
which we wanted to be involved with
and which Bill we would discussing. It
was really interesting!
Travelling to Australia!
Friday 30 October was one of the biggest steps I have ever taken in my life - this
was the day I made my way on a coach to Heathrow airport to fly to Darwin. I was
really nervous as I had never travelled this far on my own before but I knew I would
be ok.
I was lucky to have made contacts with all the delegates from the BIMR before
leaving the UK. This was really handy because I knew that on my flight to Darwin,
both St Helena representatives were on it, and then when we got to Singapore we
would meet the Jersey delegate before flying onto Darwin.
When we got to Darwin, we met up with the delegates from Pakistan and Isle of Man
before going to our hotel. Unfortunately due to the time we got into Darwin we
missed the tour of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly (who was hosting the
7th CYP), but we were then able to catch up and attend the Speaker’s welcome drinks
at Parliament House before dinner back at the hotel.
Monday 2 - Thursday 5 November
Every morning during the CYP, we all had breakfast
together before being taking to Parliament house for
our days’ work which entailed learning about the
Parliament, the work and process that we would be
carrying out with the CYP.
Every night of the week we were hosted by different
individuals who had a key role within the Northern
Territory Legislative Assembly. The first night we went
to ‘Crocosaurus Cove’ where we were able to see
crocodiles, hold reptiles and get to know some of the
delegation members whilst having a drinks and canapés reception, the second night
we had an Administers reception in Government House, and on the third and final
night we were all together for the Secretary General’s Dinner and Reception at
Parliament House.
Every evening following
dinner I had chance to mix
with the other delegates by
going out socialising, chilling
in the hotel and even going
swimming in the hotel
swimming pool.
Democracy at work
On arrival to Darwin and following our sessions and reading to try and gain an
understanding of the parliamentary process, we were divided into our selected
political parties which we had chosen in advance of arriving to Darwin from the
manifestos we were provided with before arriving. There were two political parties;
the Conservatives and the Progressives, and there were also delegates who wished
to be independent. As in real life politics, this made the parliamentary ‘math’ quite
hard because although the Conservatives were the largest party they fell short of a
majority and so they knew that they would probably have to rely on the
Independents not voting against them in order to pass legislation.
I ended up becoming a member of the
Conservatives ‘Commonwealth United Party’
and therefore part of the minority
Government.
My experience gave me an insight into the
brutal reality of how Parliaments work. Any
legislation that we wanted to pass needed to
equally satisfy the Independent Members so
they would support. This meant that there was
a great deal of negotiation needed to try to
ensure that they would support our initial
motion.
Part of the process was creating motions and
our motion proposed to increase education
provision through public-private partnerships
for the fictional country of ‘Commonland’. This
unfortunately failed to pass as the
Independent Members, voting together, voted
against the motion. This demonstrated clearly that negotiation is not always able to
deliver the success that we would like. However, when the Opposition proposed a
motion on tackling climate change, an amendment from the Government, which we
felt would make the motion stronger, was supported on both sides of the House,
and it was this moment of bi-partisan co-operation which made sure the motion
gained unanimous support. A great result!
Creating a Bill
Another part of the political process which we were lucky enough to experience was
creating a Bill. We had been given a Bill to debate, a Charter for Human Rights and
Responsibilities, and this went through the normal process that would be seen in the
Northern Territory, including three readings and evidence taken by the Select
Committee. The Select Committee process was interesting to watch and it was here
that the different political backgrounds of each delegate really shone through, as the
Select Committee process is very different in each Commonwealth jurisdictions.
Some jurisdictions expect members of the governing party to keep to a party line
whilst other jurisdictions prefer members to be critical if they see problems with a
Bill, regardless of which party they come from. Due to the limited time available to
us during the CYP, the Select Committee process was squashed into an hour with
recommendations having to be made in the ten minutes afterwards. Obviously, for a
normal Human Rights Bill, the Select Committee process may span a number of
months, if not years.
My role in Government
I was elected by my fellow members in the
Government to become the Youth Affairs
Minister. My job was to support parties Motion
within my department and answering questions
from the Opposition a regarding the Bill.
Unfortunately, due to a ‘No Confidence’ Motion
in the Government, I became the Shadow Minister
of Youth Affairs which meant we had to change
sides in the Chamber and criticise the
Government. Parliamentary ‘tactics’ were present throughout the CYP, with points of
order, jeers towards the Opposition and a number of ‘Hear Hear’ from both sides of
the House which added an element of theatricality to the proceedings. Special
thanks must be given to Drew Smith MSP and Gavin Ward MP, the mentors for our
party, as they guided us through some of the parliamentary processes and helped to
ensure that we argued our main points effectively and that we were thoroughly
prepared.
Throughout my time in Government and the Opposition, I had time to have a say
and debate the Motions and Bill which was a brilliant experience. A fellow delegate
from Isle of Man commented on my final speech by telling me “It was an
impassioned speech! It would have been an injustice not to capture it!”
Experiencing Darwin
After a packed 4 days of being in Parliament, I was left with a day and a half before I
flew back to London.
On the first free day I spend time with delegates from Malaysia, Samoa and
Seychelles. We spent the morning looking for a shopping mall which we were
informed was down the road from the hotel. Unfortunately after walking half an
hour, the mall was nowhere to be seen, however we did stumbles along Cullen Bay
which has a harbour and lovely views out to sea.
Following that we were going to go back to the hotel but we were told about a
shopping Mall in Causrurna which was amazing, and I was so excited when I saw a PJ
shop!
Whilst out and about we bumped into the Chief Clerk of the Northern Territory
Legislative Assembly, Marianne and she said that because she was free in the
morning before I was flying home she would take me out to a local Market and see
some sights of Darwin which was really kind of her.
The delegate from Jersey, Ralph, was around on my final night so we went to Fannie
Bay Yacht Club to walk along the beach, have some food and watch the sunset. This
was a once in a lifetime experience and I feel very privileged to have been able to
visit such a beautiful place.
We spent the last day together with the Marianne who was fantastic and took us to
Parap, which has a local market where we met Michael Gunner - Leader of the
Opposition of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. We then visited East point
Reserve, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and a traditional
Australian house whilst learning about this history and lifestyle of Australia.
Overall my experience attending the 7th Commonwealth Youth Parliament was life
changing! It was a superb opportunity which allowed me to learn so much about
what I am capable of, what my strengths are, meeting people from around the
Commonwealth who I would never have had the opportunity to meet otherwise,
learn about Parliamentary procedure and travel to the other side of the world. I am
very thankful to the CPA Wales Branch for this fantastic opportunity, it has been the
best thing I have ever achieved!
The 8th Commonwealth Youth Parliament will be held in British Colombia in Canada
next year, and if Wales is given the opportunity to send a delegate from Wales, I
know they will have the best experience and wish them every luck.