Macleans College student has her day in Parliament

Year 13 student Hayley Xie (Upham House) recently experienced ‘the day in the life’ of a Member of Parliament when she visited Wellington to follow the National MP for Pakuranga, Simeon Brown.

This was part of her six month tenure as a Youth MP.  The experience allowed her to gauge the daily jobs and workload of a politician.

Hayley flew to Wellington in the morning and had breakfast with Simeon followed by a tour of his office and the Parliament buildings. Later she listened to and interacted with some submissions for the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill Select Committee Group. She sat alongside journalists and listened to public submissions that were made to the select committee of which Simeon is a member.

Hayley also coincidentally was able to attend the NZQA Top Scholar's Assembly at Parliament. This was significant because former Macleans College student Yang Fan Yun (Snell House 2014 - 2018) was recognised as the Top Scholar in New Zealand. The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern presented the awards.

In the afternoon, Hayley was able to watch the live Question Time debate, where there were many questions concerning the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill. She also witnessed the general debate in regards to introductions of other bills from local councils, as well as the formal votes and debates on other proposed bills.