Step Up, Be Heard
On Thursday of Week 3 the Stage 1 Legal Studies class went on a tour of NT Parliament House. The tour was the first part of the Step Up, Be Heard program, run by the Parliamentary Education Services. The program provides students with a hands-on experience of parliamentary and electoral processes and familiarises them with the way in which legislation is passed and laws are made.
In class, the students have recently formed their own political parties and each student will run as a candidate in one of our five electorates: Darwin, Casuarina, Palmerston, Alice Springs, and Arnhem. They are required to work together in their parties to produce a party manifesto of three core policies and then each candidate individually must also come up with another two policies that are specific to their electorate, whether it be urban, suburban, regional or remote. Candidates are not expected to go out kissing babies in front of media cameras but they must each deliver a campaign speech outlining their values and policies.
A mock Election Day is scheduled for Week 6 and this will be followed by our newly-elected MLAs returning to Parliament House for a mock sitting of parliament with the real speaker, Kezia Purick, presiding. Stay tuned for the election results and campaign highlights!
