An Ulladulla High School student with aspirations of a future in political law was among 120 elected delegates at the 23rd National Schools Constitutional Convention.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Year 12 student Matilda Langford debated whether Section 44 of the Constitution and the grounds for disqualification were relevant in modern Australia at Old Parliament House from March 20 to 22.
The Mollymook resident was chosen to represent NSW at the national convention by her fellow students during a similar state Parliament event last year.
Ms Langford admitted that the convention may be “really dry” for some people, but she “absolutely” loved it.
“Some people who I’ve spoken to have said they have no clue what I’m talking about, but as a 17-year-old who loves to talk about politics, it was really nice to spend three days with like-minded students,” Ms Langford said.
“I was not only one of the only public school kids, but I was also one of the only non-city public school kids. [Attending] felt like a great accomplishment.”
After the students heard representations from experts and discussed the main of issues of Section 44, they voted in a mock referendum.
The delegates agreed it was necessary to include grounds for disqualification in the Constitution, yet amendments were required to reflect modern Australia – the use of the word active in relation to “active” acknowledgement of allegiance to a foreign power for example.
One issue the group discussed was whether people who worked for the Crown had to give up work to run for Parliament.
“If you technically work for the Government, a nurse, police officer, anything like that, you have to give up that job before you run for Parliament,” she said.
“That’s really making it a bit inequitable because there’s no guarantee that someone is going to win.
“If someone is going to give up their entire livelihood for the chance of maybe winning, it’s making a whole group of people who need to be represented in our Parliament unable to run for it.”
Ms Langford was rapt to have also met many keynote speakers, including senator Penny Wong and Australian Governor-General Peter Cosgrove.
“Actually getting to have a conversation with Peter Cosgrove was probably one of the most impressive things I’ve ever done.”
The delegates also sat in at the senate and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made addressed them.
“It was quite brief, but it was still pretty cool considering there was only an audience of about 100 there which was quite nice,” she said.
Ms Langford who says she has always been “a bit of an activist” is one of the founding members for the Aboriginal Youth Society of the Shoalhaven.
The high school students said she wants to study political law at The University of Sydney next year.
