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Nicole Breeze

Biography:

Nicole Breeze from Sydney, Australia is the Coordinator of the Oxfam International Youth Parliament (OIYP). She has worked for a number of community based organisations in Australia and internationally and has a Masters degree in Adult Education (Community Development).

Since 2000, the Oxfam International Youth Parliament (OIYP) has supported 550 young men and women to create positive, equitable and sustainable change within their communities in more than 100 countries. The young people in the OIYP network are taking action and effecting real change where it is most needed in the world today. 

Statement:

Its Australia Day, 2021. My 15 year old niece and I are walking to our local park together to join in with the community celebrations. We're chatting about Australia's loss to Kirabati in yesterday's 10-10 (4 balls per over) 1 hour international. When I complain that "its just not cricket!!" she tells me, with her generation Z sureness, to move on.....   that I'm stuck in the past.  

Whilst indeed I may be a traditionalist when it comes to cricket, I believe that across the spectrum of Australian society, there are many areas in which the (gale force) winds of change must blow.

I'll focus on two for now: revitalising Australia's democratic space; and setting a proactive agenda in the area of international cooperation.

In 15 years time, Australia will be a place that encourages and supports change, innovation and creativity at all levels. From my perspective, a lot needs to take place between now and then to get us there! On the home front, Australia's political space is currently characterised by a "me-tooism" that stifles debate and squashes alternatives. If we continue down this path we will seriously inhibit the dynamic growth and development of a robust democracy and weaken the very foundation required for the growth of our nation into the future.  

So, how do we revitalise Australia's democratic space? One place to begin is in our local communities. I believe that we need to invest in and inspire bottom-up leadership. We also need actual public debate - which is rigorous and robust. From industrial to international relations, the growth of our cities and rural and regional areas, education, health care, and law reform, Australian people seek leaders who are prepared to think outside the box and argue creatively about alternatives.

Looking outwards (which I believe we need to do significantly more of!) presents opportunities and challenges for Australia and Australians over the coming 15 years. Australia's current overseas aid policy is motivated primarily by concerns about domestic security and tied to our own economic interests. In a world where 20% of the world's people consume 80% of its resources, how do we move beyond an island-focussed mentality, concerned first and foremost with our own domestic situation?

The outpouring of generosity across all sectors of the Australian community in response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami was a glimmer of hope. The immediacy and breadth of the response of the Australian people, prompting a larger Australian government response, showed that we have a broad sense of the meaning of human security that stretches a long way beyond our own interests.  

Whilst the response to the Tsunami did inspire hope, lets face it, it was crisis driven.  

I believe that Australia's challenge is to set a more proactive agenda in the area of international cooperation building on the compassion of 2005. We must move beyond a paradigm of crisis and reaction to one of genuine, equitable long-term partnerships with developing nations at which humanitarianism and poverty alleviation are at the centre.