He may only be 13-years-old but St. Philip’s Christian College student Tallen Howson already knows what he wants to be when he grows up – a politician.
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In the first week of the school holidays, the Cessnock boy took part in the YMCA NSW Junior Parliament, which aims to teach young people aged 12 to 15 about parliamentary processes.
Tallen was selected as one of 100 young people state-wide to represent his electorate, forming part of the Rural and Regional Affairs committee which developed a bill concerning a virtual learning program for students from rural areas.
The bill was later taken to the House for debate and eventually passed – something Tallen said he was very proud of.
“I am very passionate about equal rights and opportunities for young people in rural and metropolitan areas,” he said.
“A lot of students from the country don’t have the same access to GAT (gifted and talented) programs, so this bill was designed to combat that issue.”
This was the second year that Tallen had taken part in the YMCA NSW Junior Parliament and he said that it was a great experience.
Tallen hopes to study law and economics at university and also hopes to progress to the YMCA NSW Youth Parliament (for 15-18 year olds) as he goes through high school.
