I rise to speak on the impact COVID has had on young people and the future they face. It's hard to overstate how rapidly and dramatically COVID-19 has changed the world for young people. But we must acknowledge that neither they nor the pandemic are the cause of the greatest challenges they face. Those have been created for them by older generations. A recent Betoota Advocate headline attributes a fake quote to the Prime Minister: 'The sooner young people understand they're effed, the sooner they'll be happy.' It's hard to argue with.

Young people will be guaranteed a job, secure income, and free education under a new Greens recovery plan to restart the economy and build ‘a better normal’ after the coronavirus economic shock.

The vision for a debt-financed recovery reaffirms the government’s role in responding to the crisis, and rejects the austerity approaches offered by the Liberal and Labor parties, charting a course for a government-led recovery that extends Australia’s world-class social services, instead of slashing funding for education, healthcare, and the environment.

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the New South Wales (NSW) Youth Council held their 'Unleash the Future' Conference from 13 to 15 September 2019 in Rooty Hill, and

(ii) young people from across NSW came together to workshop issues, including the need for emergency action on the climate crisis, the role of advocacy, gender and cultural diversity, mental health, youth and family violence, and the importance of having young voices at all levels of Australian government;

The Greens have brought this motion on the attacks against young LGBTIQ Australians supported by Prime Minister Scott Morrison as a matter of public importance because it is a matter of public importance. We have long known Mr Scott Morrison's views on LGBTIQ rights. His record on voting against marriage equality and campaigning against the Safe Schools antibullying program is well known.