Young Labour congratulates Youth Parliamentarians on excellent performance

The average age of parliamentarians in the House yesterday was significantly lower as participants of the Ministry of Youth Developments Youth Parliament 2010 took to their seats to debate issues relevant to New Zealand's youth.

Youth Parliament, which has been held every couple of years since 1994, is an opportunity for those prospective future parliamentarians aged 16-18 to sink their teeth into contemporary political debates by attending everything from select committees to caucuses.

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Young Labour join Keep it 18 campaign

The recent findings of the Law Commission in regards to the review of the regulatory framework for the sale and supply of liquor has lead Young Labour to join forces with other political youth wings to speak out on raising the purchasing age of alcohol in New Zealand.

Young Labour, in conjunction with ACT on Campus, Young Greens and the Young Nationals are coming out in support of keeping the current purchasing age at 18 years old.

Young Labour spokesperson for Keep it 18, Nicola Wood says that creating  a culture of responsible drinking only comes from policy which better enables young people to make positive decisions about how they use alcohol.

“We will oppose any change to the law which discriminates unfairly against young people” she said.

Read more: Young Labour join Keep it 18 campaign

Young people set to get Rogered

Young Labour has grave concerns about the future for youth in New Zealand following today's news that ACT MP Roger Douglas' members bill to reintroduce youth rates has been drawn and will be debated in Parliament.

The deceitfully titled Minimum Wage (Mitigation of Youth Unemployment) Amendment Bill will seek to put in place discriminatory wages for young people, changing the minimum wage for young people under 18, which will see youth being paid less for the same work as their older colleagues. Young Labour takes a different stance to Douglas' outdated and disproved far-right rhetoric and thinks that lowering wages is not an acceptable way of dealing with an unemployment crisis.

Read more: Young people set to get Rogered

Rising Youth Unemployment is No Bright Future

Young Labour is dismayed by the results of today’s Household Labour Force Survey which shows youth unemployment has risen by 6.5 percent.

“Young Labour is appealing to the Government to take serious action to curb the rising rates of unemployment amongst young New Zealanders.” Young Labour President, Patrick Leyland, said this afternoon.

Read more: Rising Youth Unemployment is No Bright Future