Whanganui electorate Youth MP Ebony Kalin ready to speak in Parliament

Ebony Kalin, 16, is ready to head to Wellington and make her voice heard at parliament next week. Photo / supplied

The voice of young people in the Whanganui electorate will be heard in Parliament next week, thanks to teenager Ebony Kalin.

As an accomplished public speaker and keen student, one of Ebony's long-time goals has been to speak in New Zealand Parliament, she says, and thanks to the 2022 Youth Parliament, she finally has her chance.

Ebony, 16, is one of 120 Youth MPs participating in Youth Parliament 2022; an event held every parliamentary term to encourage young people to engage with democracy.

Youth Parliament is held triennially to reflect New Zealand's three-year parliamentary term. The 2022 programme began on March 1 and runs to August 31 with a two-day Youth Parliament event taking place in Wellington next week.

As the Youth Parliament member representing Whanganui MP Steph Lewis, Ebony has a special focus on preparing youth for jobs. As part of this Ebony, a Hāwera High School student, has worked with a Youth Advisory committee including representatives from Whanganui and Stratford to best investigate how they can support youth in their electorate.

"In my research earlier this year I found that a lot of youth do not know how to prepare a CV, don't know what to bring to an interview. This is something that I really want to focus on so we can help that transition from education into the workforce."

One of Ebony's favourite parts of the Youth Parliament experience so far has been working with Steph and getting guidance from her.

"I've had multiple Zoom meetings with Steph to catch up on how I'm going and her offices are always open so if I need help it's always just a phone call away. She's been really supportive of me as well, showing me all the different sides of my role and I couldn't have asked for a better mentor."

Outside of Youth Parliament, Ebony says she particularly enjoys studying physics, economics, accounting and chemistry while also taking part in speech competitions such as the Race Unity Speech Competition, of which she was a 2022 national semifinalist and regional champion.

While at Parliament, Youth MPs will have the opportunity to debate topics such as trade, nuclear energy and climate change alongside giving a speech on a topic of interest to them. Ebony is on the health select committee, which will consider the question "how can we support young people to participate in healthy and active lifestyles?"

*Achim Hanne, 17, is one of 19 rangatahi selected to participate in Youth Parliament 2022 as a member of the Youth Press Gallery.