Charlotte Varcoe
A FUTURE in politics is now on the cards for Mount Gambier/Berrin youth Milla Prowse.
Young Milla recently spent a week in Adelaide learning the ins and outs of the political system through the YMCA Youth in Parliament program.
The program is a non-partisan program which provides a platform for those between the ages of 15 and 25 to have their say on important issues, build skills and parliamentary understanding.
Milla said her mother, Kelsie Prowse, discovered the program after seeing it in a newspaper advertisement and encouraged the young resident to apply.
“Mum and I sat down and read through the application process and all the information about it and at the time I didn’t think I was going to get in because I am 15 so I was at the bottom of the age group,” Milla said.
“When we found out I got in, it was really cool.”
Milla said she took part in a training weekend in April where she was flown to Adelaide and attended a UniSA campus with about 70 other participants.
“We learnt about the parliamentary procedure and etiquette, how bills are passed and all that,” she said.
“We then split into committees, of which there were 10, and part of the application process was I had to number my preferences for the committees and tell them why I wanted to be in the top three I chose.”
Milla was part of the Recreation, Arts and Culture committee and she and her fellow participants soon began organising and writing their own bill to be presented to the chamber.
“Our bill was about expanding youth cultural opportunities to underprivileged youth, whether that was low socioeconomic backgrounds or whether they lived in rural communities or they just could not get to the places where the activities were being held,” she said.
“It really focused on the money aspect and we created travel vouchers if travel was the problem and we also talked about creating the extracurricular activities and how we would host them.”
Milla said she was the “most regional student” to take part in the program with others from metropolitan areas as well as Whyalla, the Barossa and Strathalbyn.
“I did video call into some meetings but we also had a residential week so I flew to Adelaide and was there for the whole week,” she said.
“On the Saturday we spent a lot of time planning our speeches and getting to know our committees better before we were in Parliament from Monday to Friday.”
Milla sat in the Legislative Council on the Opposition where she argued against five bills and for five bills to better understand the workings of passing legislation.
“The main thing I learnt was when you are debating these things how to pick apart how a bill will do what it is intended to do without hating on the actual topics,” she said.
“I would agree with what a bill was trying to do but whether it was doing it properly or well enough was what I would argue.
“I figured if there was something you would change about the bill then people should vote against it because you don’t want it to go through if it is not doing it the best way it could be.”
Despite debating bills, Milla said her committee’s bill passed both the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly – something she was immensely proud of.
Milla also had the opportunity to attend a reception at the Governor’s House and listen to Her Excellency Frances Adamson give a speech on leadership.
“I definitely want to do this again next year even though the residential week falls over my birthday,” Milla said.
“For a while now I have wanted to study politics at university but being a part of this program definitely made my mind up that it was something I wanted to pursue.
“I wasn’t sure how to end up in a career in politics whether it be through journalism or as a political advisor but this program cemented the idea in my head that I want to do a career relating to politics.”
Milla also thanked Member of the Legislative Council Ben Hood, Minister for Primary Industries, Regional Development and Forestry Clare Scriven and the Grant District Council for sponsoring her throughout the program.
