Students hungrier than ever for taste of office

A VISIT to Canberra has done nothing to dissuade Jerome Pang from entering politics.

Students hungy for office

A VISIT to Canberra, meetings with Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten, and even enduring the antics of question time has done nothing to dissuade Jerome Pang from entering politics and even, hopefully, becoming prime minister one day. “It hasn’t in the least diminished my aspirations to become a politician, and if anything has made me hungrier,” he said.

Jerome, 18, and 12-year-old Riarna Milgate met Mr Abbott and other politicians, after winning a competition, “If I were PM”, held for the scholarship students of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation. The foundation, which supports indigenous students in private boarding schools and into further study or jobs, asked its students to submit a speech outlining their vision if they were to become the nation’s first indigenous prime minister.

The highlight of the Canberra trip for Riarna was lunching with Senator Peris. “(Senator Peris) was so inspirational, talking about what it means to be Aboriginal and that nothing is impossible,” she said.