Some Youth MPs have been told by the organisers of the Youth Parliament 2025 event to remove criticisms of the Government from their speeches.
Labour says the move is out of step with the spirit of the Youth Parliament, and risks further discouraging young people from having their voices heard.
The event is organised by the Ministry for Youth Development. The ministry has been approached for comment.
The Youth Parliament initiative is held every three years, and provides young New Zealanders with an opportunity to learn about Parliament and democracy.
Every MP in Parliament selects a Youth MP, aged 16 to 18, with a Youth Press Gallery also involved. Youth MPs go through a four-month training programme before arriving at Parliament to participate in mock debates, Question Time and select committees.
Previous Youth MPs who have gone on to become full-fledged MPs in the current Parliament include Chris Bishop, Ayesha Verrall, Tangi Utikere, Catherine Wedd, Tom Rutherford, Carl Bates and Camilla Belich.
The 11th Youth Parliament formally gets under way on Tuesday with a general debate.
RNZ has seen a copy of an email sent to a Youth MP, telling them changes had been made to their general debate speech to ensure it:
The Youth Parliament Project Team told the Youth MP the changes were recommended because some of their speech lacked political neutrality by criticising “this Government”.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the whole point of Youth Parliament was to make sure young people who were “massively underheard” in Parliament had the opportunity to have their say.
“I think any idea that they’re being asked to submit their views in advance so they can be censored, so they can have critical comments about the government taken out of them, is just totally out of step with the spirit of Youth Parliament.”
Hipkins said he would understand if defamatory comments, or comments that opened a Youth MP up to legal risk, were taken out, but taking things out just because they were critical was too far.
“My advice to Youth Members of Parliament is: this is your shot. This is your shot to ensure that young people actually have a voice in this place. Say what you think, and don’t let anybody else tell you what you should think.”
- RNZ