8 February 2012
DAFF12/283S

Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Sid Sidebottom, has welcomed Tasmania’s Heywire winners to Canberra for the 2012 Heywire Regional Youth Summit.

Speaking at a Parliament House reception for summit participants, Mr Sidebottom congratulated Hobart’s Ella Hind and Rachel Reilly from Devonport for their inspiring Heywire stories and encouraged them to make the most of the six-day summit.

“The Heywire Youth Summit brings together some of Australia’s most creative young people from rural and regional areas to talk about issues important to them and their communities,” Mr Sidebottom said.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for both Ella and Rachel, who will represent the interests and aspirations of young Tasmanians as they share and develop ideas to strengthen regional communities with their fellow summit participants.

“Now in its 14th year, Heywire continues to provide an important outlet for regional and rural youth to express themselves and speak up about significant community issues to audiences around Australia and around the world.”

Each of the 35 participants in this year’s summit were selected to attend on the strength of their written, video, audio or photographic stories which they shared on the ABC’s Heywire website.

In her winning entry, Ella Hind from Hobart spoke about finding the positives in all situations. Ella was born without half her right arm, but can do just about everything that people with two hands can do, including cooking, driving and playing guitar, and hopes that in sharing her experiences others will also find inspiration and strength.

Rachel Reilly from Devonport spoke of her experiences in leaving home at a young age and how through facing the challenges of living independently she came to value what parents provide.

“The Heywire Regional Youth Summit is a valuable development opportunity for participants, who will receive training on how to develop and pitch their proposals and communicate their ideas effectively,” Mr Sidebottom said.

“Participants get the opportunity to have their issues heard one-on-one in a ‘speed dating’ session with representatives of Government Departments. They will also work on policy proposals linked to issues raised by other summit participants in their successful entries, including agriculture, road quality in remote communities and education in rural areas.”