The moment I felt proud to be an Australian

Congratulations to Ethan in Year 5 who wrote this letter to Mr Trent Zimmerman MP and thanks to Mr Zimmerman for taking the time to write back to Ethan.

Dear Mr Zimmerman,

I’m an 11 year old student at St Mary’s Primary School, North Sydney. As with many boys my age, I’m into my sport, hanging out with my friends and playing computer games, but not so much into what politicians say in Parliament. I do catch a glimpse of the news from time to time and I often see many politicians arguing and having a go at each other, using lots of hand gestures and trying to speak over each other and I remind myself not to go into politics when I grow up.

The other day, my parents were watching the news. I kinda groaned and asked if we could switch the TV to another channel. I don’t think they heard me and I wondered what was so interesting so I decided to stay and watch.

This is what I saw and heard:

• Malcolm Turnbull – Prime Minister – ‘We need to stand up for what we are, a free society, the most successful multicultural society in the world united by democratic values that do not distinguish between race, religion, colour, cultural background.’
• Bill Shorten  - ‘We cannot stay silent in the face of racism.’ And ‘Free speech is a cherished value in Australian society, but it is not an unfetted right to hurt, to bully, to intimidate and make some Australians feel less equal than other Australians. We have to call it out, we must condemn it…we have to stand against it, strong and united.’
• Alan Tudge – ‘We will always maintain a non-discriminatory immigration program.’
• Anny Aly  - ‘I’m tired of fighting’ as she cried.
• Penny Wong – Australia is a ‘nation that is being built by people from every country, every part of this world, a strong independent multicultural nation.’
• Ed Husic –  ‘When you hear God’s words, you hear God’s words, they are good words.’ and ‘We’re going to use this as a moment, to recognise the great things about our country, but call out the times where we have made those missteps, and say we can do better.’
• Pauline Hanson –  ‘… you do not need to be white to be Australian.’

I don’t really know what these politicians were responding to or why they were saying what they said, but I do know that they were agreeing with each other, something I have really never seen. I felt proud to be an Australian, to hear the people who represent us talk about how this country has been built by people of all nationalities and how we should stand together to act against hatred and racism. As a student about to enter my final year of primary school at St Mary’s North Sydney, I’m now going to run for school captain because the comments I heard from our leaders has restored my confidence in how strong leadership can make a difference.   

Mr Zimmermann, I know you must be a very busy person with all that you do to represent myself and all the other people who live in the North Sydney electorate, but it would be great if you could drop into my school one day and talk to everyone about how great this country is and how your party is working to unite everyone. Each year, our school is becoming more and more diverse and we have many kids from all different backgrounds. Also, on October 17-19, we will be going to Canberra and part of our trip will be to visit Parliament House. It would be great to see you there.

Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, it’s not like me to write to a politician but I thought I would take this opportunity after hearing some great things that have been said by our united leaders.

Yours sincerely,

Ethan Mock

Year 5 student at St Mary’s Primary School, North Sydney