Jeanette Fitzsimons' job up for grabs

Green Party Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons is looking for her replacement - for this year's Youth Parliament to be held in August.

Every three years a Youth Parliament sits for two days complete with question time, debates, legislation and select committees while MPs watch and encourage.

Ms Fitzsimons will be advertising in Saturday's Bay of Plenty Times and Tuesday's Hauraki Herald, looking for an energetic, politically-minded 16 to 18 year-old to take her place in the Youth Parliament. Travel and accommodation are provided. The person must be a first-time voter in 2005.

"Politics is seen as boring to a lot of young people, but it's the place where many of the decisions about their future are made," said Ms Fitzsimons. "It's the young people of New Zealand who will live with the decisions that people like me make in Parliament every day.

"This is a great opportunity for a young person to learn about the political system and how they might be able to make a positive difference in the future for New Zealand.

"I'd like to encourage people interested in this position to consider designing a one page website outlining their views on an issue facing young people today. It's important that our future leaders can embrace all forms of communication, new and old, so I'll be looking forward to the responses," said Ms Fitzsimons.

"The right person will be grounded in the issues that face their communities and have a strong sense of vision about the kind of world they'd like to both inherit and create."

Applications close on May 19 for either a 500 word essay or one page website on an issue facing young people to be submitted to Jeanette Fitzsimons - so interested young people should get cracking!

Ms Fitzsimons' email address for the applications is Jeanette.Fitzsimons@parliament.govt.nz

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