Active Citizenship
More mental health commercials or mental health advertisements.
Talk to schools about cyber/digital bullying and being more engaged with the community.
Talk to schools with volunteer programmes and spread the word
Raise awareness about local Boards and Council Wards
Raise awareness about the Government through school civics education etc
Political education in schools – make it a topic for secondary students, teach about how to vote, discuss and educate about current policies and law-making
Have Local MPs and their policies on social media
Greenwashing in day to day life
Have a poll of under-18s before the election to raise awareness about where the youth sit with political parties
Have a comedic but informative YouTube channel explaining how our government system works, proposed Bills, deep dive into party ideologies, benefits and issues with different voting systems but NZ focused
How can the youth impact MP’s decisions to fuel positive change?
Having youth representation would make youth feel more connected, engaged and empowered
Have youth representation
More free community events like movies in parks that bring people together and maybe also community beach clean-ups, gardens, tree planting, events so we feel we are making a difference
Have an initiative embedded within the curriculum where local governance is taught and discussed. Highlight young people’s rights and why this matters to them and their future!
Have compulsory basic politics and voting education in schools including who you can go to if your rights are being marginalised
Lower the voting age requirement
Lower the voting age
Raise the voting age requirement to 21
Lower the voting age
Advertise and explain submissions, select committees, petitions etc. How do I do it?
Have more of a government presence in schools, i.e. fun speakers for government initiating (i.e. some community groups have speakers come in)
Feeling like you have a say past just voting would make people feel more connected, engaged and empowered
More information on relevant government stuff and voting, in schools
A definite understanding of political standings. Community events could be used to advertise politicians.
Start a programme to add new interest and knowledge about politics
More education in assemblies (school) that is unbiased before voting, to promote voting
Make referendums binding so what we vote counts and have more frequent referendums
Better free public spaces and community centres
Have better free public spaces and community centres
Have student led initiatives to encourage voting, e.g. rangatahi centres for voting around universities and “youth” areas
More focus on tackling environmental issues and climate change
Have MPs go talk about their job in schools
More grassroots engagement with the community, community events that combine enjoyment and civic education
Have a 4-year term of Government like in the UK to increase productivity
Visit schools, maybe primary, get children interested in politics from a young age
Standardised civics education in high schools
Civics education in high schools
Standardised civics education in high schools
Rangatahi led consultation will increase engagement and empowerment
Increase the term of Government so we are focused more on long term improvements and policies
Increase the terms so we have more focus on long term improvements and policies
Have bullet points on Facebook with Ministers and CEO priorities for health, transport etc
Responsiveness
Engage with people online, text etc. Timeliness of plans – how can we be involved in implementation and have forums for reporting back.
Have a bigger digital and social media presence. Key into what is relevant to me.
Use infographics and visual mediums to inform people.
Too much language is hard to understand
Facilitation of proper discussions on local issues
Have more free community events to get involvement.
Actively engage with marginalised groups instead of treating them as an afterthought
Government can organise activities in the community and create policy based on youth interests
Use vocab that is easy to understand but not condescending
Treat youth issues like important policy issues!
Councils need to be consistently responsive
Government needs to be more proactive not reactive (e.g. climate)
Share government information at community events – be present.
Get out there – because all I see it as, is a whole bunch of people in an office who decisions for me
More active outreach and engagement
More outreach and engagement
Use uncomplicated non-academic language when communicating with the public. Explain what MPs do.
Have further public consultation to see what is most important to the community
Transparency and Accountability
Have TV documentaries, like a ‘day in the life’ not just Parliament TV
Need to update and simplify government websites
Share information in bite-sized posts on Instagram and other youth-heavy mediums, like @washingtonpost on Insta
Have a Netflix-like government streaming service
More clarity about local legislation that is being passed
Out of scope?
Have more easy bus or train routes from Albany
Create an Upper North Island train network (expansion to Te Huia) between Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua etc.
Upgrade the NZ military, higher capacity etc
Increase the NZ military
Focus on the wastewater and grey water pipes going to the oceans!
Create limits on residential expansion into our productive countryside