Budding pollies learn realities of the calling

Member for Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay has urged fellow politicians to join a Parliamentary internship program for students from regional universities.
Mr Torbay told Parliament he had taken on two University of New England students Andrew Bekkema and Nicholas Flood as part of a pilot for the new Rural and Regional Student Internships Program.
Students sign on for at least 130 hours in an MP’s office over a six-month period where they are they are introduced to electoral and parliamentary procedures and take on research projects on regional and State issues.
“We are currently two months into the program and it is proving to be a great success,” Mr Torbay said.
“Andrew and Nick have responded with great enthusiasm and professionalism and I sincerely hope that this experience will firm up their aim to enter the political sphere. As I understand it, their experience in my busy office has not deterred them and has, in fact, sharpened their ambition. Their positive response and commitment to this program underlines the need for more of these opportunities to be available to students from regional universities.”
The MP said next year UNE is looking to expand the program into other rural and regional electorates by offering ten internship placements across the State with regional MPs acting as mentors.
“This is a positive initiative and I would urge Members representing regional electorates to consider becoming involved in the program and to sign up to take on some of these keen students,” he said. “It is a chance to introduce the next generation of politicians to the challenges and rewards of representing regional communities in Parliament.”
Over the last two months the interns Andrew, a Bachelor of Business and Law student and Nicholas, a Master of Business Research student have worked in Mr Torbay’s Armidale electoral office, attended events and travelled around the electorate.
“One of the main benefits is access to a behind the scenes experience of how politics is conducted on a daily basis,” Mr Torbay said. “That provides quite a different perspective from what can be learned through text books. There are many degrees of separation between the academic concept of politics and the day to day engagement and time demands in which politicians are involved.”
The UNE internship program is a first for regional NSW and redresses an inequity where students keen to pursue a career in politics could only access internships through programs offered at metropolitan universities.