AIEF: Turnbull makes tea for Matthew McDonald, Wyatt Cook-Revell

Two teenagers reveal what happened when they met Malcolm Turnbull after winning ‘If I were Prime Minister’ competition.

Indigenous students Matthew McDonald (left) from Western Australia and Wyatt Cook-Revell from Queensland, winners of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) "If I were PM" competition call on Prime Minister Turnbull in his Parliament House office in Canberra.

After a day touring Parliament House and meeting politicians, teenager Matthew McDonald picks his highlight: when Malcolm Turnbull poured him a cup of jasmine tea.

The 17-year-old from Scotch College in Perth, along with Wyatt Cook-Revell, from Ipswich Gram­mar School in Queensland, met Mr Turnbull yesterday after winning the Australian Indig­enous Education Foundation’s competition, “If I were Prime Minister”.

Their entries reveal an ambitious list of promises if they were to win the top job, including improving education and safety for Aboriginal children and greater indigenous representation in parliament.

The teenagers spent about 30 minutes with the Prime Minister and discussed constitutional recog­nition, AFL teams — Matthew is a Fremantle Dockers fan, Mr Turnbull goes for the Sydney Swans — and swapped tips on how to take a good selfie. “He took the first one then showed me how to take a selfie on the next one,” said Wyatt, 16.

“He listened to us, which was good, that’s what I really wanted out of the whole trip. For politicians to listen to us and he did.”

Matthew, who began boarding school in Year 9 on an AIEF-BHP Billiton scholarship, is interested in a career as a tradesman, but was thrilled by the day at the house on the hill.

“They’re way nicer, friendly,” he said. “The Prime Minister pouring me a cup of tea. Where do you see that happening? I reckon that was awesome. When he was my age he still didn’t know what he wanted to become. So maybe one day I could possibly become the prime minister.”

The teen, from Geraldton in Western Australia, said he would take home a message from Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion: that Aboriginal children have a greater chance of success if they get a good education.

For Wyatt, who says politics is his “thing”, a chat with deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek about her time as a former health minister made a big impression.

“I asked her what’s the most rewarding thing about your job. She teared up and I thought ‘woa’,” Wyatt said.

“She said to have people contact her to say that she’s doubled or tripled their life expectancy by adding a medicine into the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is a really big thing.

“It touched me to say that this thing is actually real and you can make fair dinkum change in society as a politician. That genuine people do it.”

The boys also met Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, indigenous affairs spokesman Shayne Neumann, had lunch with indigenous MPs Nova Peris and Jo Lingdren, sat in on question time and capped off the day meeting indigenous MP and Assistant Health Minister Ken Wyatt.