Scoop interviews Youth MP Zoe Donald

Scoop's current intern Ms Kelly Smith (of Oklahoma USA) travelled down to Parliament today in order to have a chinwag to one of the Youth parliamentarians - Ms Zoe Donald. Zoe is the daughter of Rod Donald the Green Co-leader who passed away in 2005. Zoe was representing Green Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons at the Youth Parliament.

Kelly Smith: How old are you Zoe?

Zoe Donald: I’m fifteen. I turned fifteen last week.

KS: Where do you live?

ZD: I live in Christchurch.

KS: Where have you been staying while up here?

ZD: I’ve been staying with a man called Vernon Small. He was a really good friend of Dad’s so I’m staying with him and his family.

KS: What politicians have you met?

ZD: I know all the Greens MP’s. Bill English came and talked to me. And Helen Clark. I’ve been around politicians a lot so I don’t have a need to talk to them. A lot of the Youth MP's make a b-line to the MP's as soon as they walk in the room. I’ve talked to Nicky Wagner because one of my friends is her Youth MP.

KS: Have you been impressed with the one’s you’ve met?

ZD: We’ve met the MP's and they’ve talked to us… we haven’t had many opportunities to talk to them [the MP’s] much. But there hasn’t been a lot of time for that to happen.

KS: I understand you are representing Jeanette Fitzsimons and the Green Party—after being here do you have any desire to get involved with any other political parties—for example, Helen Clark’s parents were true blue Nats?

ZD: I guess I did get into politics. I definitely wouldn’t want to be a politician. Greens would probably be one of my first choices. Either Greens or Labour. The Greens party’s quite small and it’s nice. I’d probably end up with Greens more than Labour’s policies. I’m not sure though. I’m still quite young.

KS: Does everyone mix together well or do the Green Youth MP’s stay together . . .

ZD: There are definitely groups. There is a Christchurch group and a Wellington group. The Greens group is most of the Greens youth MP’s along with others who support Greens. Most people get on well. There are a couple of youth MP’s who have very strong views that a lot of people don’t agree with but mostly everyone gets on really well.

KS: Have any of the other Youth MP’s swayed your thinking regarding any issues?:

ZD: Coming up here I didn’t really have strong political views. It’s been interesting to hear other youth mp’s views and how strong they are. We are all quite young and it’s just amazing that some people feel so strongly about some things. It’s made me realize what issues are really affecting NZ youth at the moment.

KS: I read that you are interested in the party pill issue

ZD: That’s probably one of the issues that I feel more comfortable talking about because it is more of an issue for youth today. If affects us a lot more than climate change. I think the majority of youth would be more interested in party pills than climate change.

KD: What other issues are important to you?:

ZD: I’m in the Social Services Select Committee and one of the topics is youth gangs and youth offenders. I find that quite interesting - how we can stop NZ youth from joining gangs and becoming violent and how that kind of lifestyle can lead to youth not applying themselves as much as they could which leads to them dropping out and not trying their best. I’m quite interested in that at the moment.

KS: Did you meet the Ribena Girls?

ZD: I met one of the Ribena girls. Anna. She’s in my select committee. She’s really cool.

KS: Can you pick out any future politicians from the current crop?

ZD: Yes. There’s Gareth Veale. He’s Clayton Cosgrove’s youth MP. I think it’s very likely that he will be a politician. There are definitely a couple of guys who you can tell will be right up there.

KS: You’ve mentioned that you would like to go into politics. What do you see yourself doing in the future?

ZD: Maybe a political journalist or a politician’s PA. Just working quite high up in politics as one of the background people.

Kelly Smith is currently an intern for Scoop media based in Wellington . Ms Smith normally resides in Oklahoma and is attached to the Gaylord School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Oklahoma

ENDS

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