Promises made, promises kept as MP takes teens to Parliament

The eight Taranaki students who went to Parliament, from left: Tom Tito Green, Lita Wilson, Claudia Chan, Lola Potter, Angel Lepasana, Bethanie Luke, Anthony Edwards and Corey Isaia. Photo / Supplied

New Plymouth MP Glen Bennett was willing to put his money where his mouth was when it came to keeping his promise to a group of Taranaki students.

In November last year, Glen and fellow MP Andrew Little met with a group of teenagers who had applied to be their Youth MPs for the 2022 Youth Parliament event. In announcing their final selection, Glen told the group he had been impressed by them all, and promised he would take all eight students to Parliament for a day.

Determined to keep his promise, Glen organised a day trip last month, flying those eight students to Wellington and back on Wednesday, September 28. Glen originally paid the cost of the airfares out of his own pocket, so determined was he to get the teenagers to Parliament and to keep his promise. Glen says he has since been reimbursed by his office for the cost, thanks to a budget being found for it.

"The Youth Parliament process really brought out a number of young people who applied and it was really hard for Andrew Little and I to pick just two Youth MPs," he says.

"I wanted to reward them for putting themselves out there and encourage them to be more politically aware and active."

During their day at Parliament, the students - Angel Lepasana, Claudia Chan, Lola Potter (all from Sacred Heart Girls' College), Anthony Edwards and Corey Isaia (both from Francis Douglas Memorial College), and Lita Wilson (Waitara High School) - spent their time meeting with MPs and civil servants and watching the Parliamentary process. Bringing the group number up to eight were Bethanie Luke (Sacred Heart Girls' College) and Tom Tito Green (Ōpunake High School), the Youth MPs who represented Andrew Little and Glen Bennett respectively at this year's Youth Parliament.

Over the course of the day, they toured Parliament buildings and met Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Speaker of the House Adrian Rurawhe and other politicians.

"It was amazing to see what goes on behind television and on the news," Lola Potter says. "It went really smoothly and we all got along quite well."

Anthony Edwards agrees.

"Glen looked after us all and gave us a lot of opportunities throughout the day."

Speaker of the House Adrian Rurawhe meets with Taranaki students in the office of the Speaker. Photo / Supplied

"It was an odd experience returning to Parliament," Tom Tito says. "So much had changed in a really small period of time. It was good to be back though."

"I really enjoyed this trip," Bethanie Luke says.

"It acted as a really nice follow-up to Youth Parliament because it allowed us to watch and understand what was happening, having been in the same position as the MPs were."

Glen says that he has learned a lot from the people he took to Wellington and from Youth Parliament in general, and says that he will take the lessons learned from the last few months to heart, as he seeks to continue his association with youth going forward.

"I've learnt that I need to ensure I am constantly in contact and listening to the voices of young people. I am going to establish a youth committee that I will meet with regularly to hear the issues that are important to them and to seek their guidance when it comes to forming ideas and new legislation."