On Monday 10 September, seven colleges from within the Archdiocese were invited to take part in ABC’s Q&A live audience and ask questions directly to a panel of policy makers on national television for Q&A's High School Special.  

The opportunity to participate in the audience was student-initiated, encouraging students to tackle the big issues of today to the overarching question, ‘What if high school students ran this country?’

Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Deputy Leader of the Nationals, Bridget McKenzie, joined four high school students from around Australia on the panel, covering topics including unelected prime ministers, climate, closing the gap and the moral high ground.

Lumen Christi College student Annalise Piotrowski stood up and asked the panel about meaningful action on climate change, bringing attention to the devastating effects of the Tathra bushfires on their community.  

“In March this year we saw a bushfire tear through our town, Tathra, fanned by extreme weather conditions,” she said.

“In August we had another out-of-control bushfire burning to the west of Tathra.”

“We have just seen our elected Prime Minister ousted by the conservative right, who doesn’t want action on climate change,

“When will we finally get politicians who will act for our future and take meaningful action on climate change?”

Watch the full episode here: