Launching the Centre for Youth Policy
freya leach wants to reach every young australian through the centre for youth policy.
Read a transcript of Freya’s opening remarks.
This week the Menzies Research Centre launched an important new initiative aimed at reaching every young Australian with a message of hope for the future grounded in Liberal values.
Addressing more than 120 MRC supporters and young Australians in Sydney, Freya Leach outlined her vision for the Centre for Youth Policy, which will support the Liberal Party in generating policy solutions that speak to the challenges facing young people.
Former deputy prime minister John Anderson, who has done tremendous work engaging young people through his popular podcast series, later joined Freya for a fascinating conversation that explored why young people are rejecting the message of freedom and aspiration and embracing the false panacea of socialism.
Success will only come from demonstrating why Liberalism is still relevant.
“We've become so reliant on the fact that we're right about a lot of this stuff that we've actually forgotten to explain the moral argument behind that,” Freya explained. “Why are lower taxes good? Why should we inspire people to be aspirational? Why should we protect individual freedoms and liberties? We've forgotten that part because we're so good at managing the economy, and it's what we always talk about.”
There is a generation of young people that are hungry for a message of hope. But at a fundamental level, young people are neither aware of nor understand that hope is possible. Their views have been shaped by a culture of identity politics and social movements that trumpet victimhood and guilt over personal responsibility.
“We need people that want and are willing to lead the charge, and I feel a very deep sense of responsibility to do everything that I can for my generation because there are so many people out there that have been absolutely captured by the ideology of the left, they don't have any hope. They haven't heard our message.
“They don't understand that there is hope for them in a country where they can build a life for themselves because they've been told that that's just not possible,” Freya said.
The Centre for Youth Policy will work to address this messaging gap by communicating Liberal values through the channels that young people engage with and generating policy ideas that meet their needs.
“We are looking at things like higher education reform, increasing housing supply through planning reform, and cultivating self-reliance in the next generation of Australians in our schools so that by the time they enter the adult world, they understand that not only can they take responsibility for themselves, but they have the power to actually improve their own lives,” Freya said.
You can help build up, mentor, and guide young people by donating to the Centre for Youth Policy.
Support our mission to pass on the values of freedom and aspiration, conservatism, classical liberalism and pragmatism to the next generation of young leaders.
