Student leaders at Gawler and District College grilled local MP Tony Piccolo during an impromptu “question time” held during their leadership day.
Mr Piccolo was invited to attend the leadership day event following their recent tour of Parliament House with the Member for Light.
Students took the opportunity to ask Mr Piccolo a series of questions regarding politics and his work at a local Member of Parliament.
Mr Piccolo said it was almost one of the toughest question times he had faced in his political life.
“The students grilled me about what motivated me to become a member of parliament, what was the most embarrassing thing I had done, amongst many other questions,” said Mr Piccolo.
“Ironically, the toughest question was about the toughest part of being a Member of Parliament.
“Most of the questions were insightful and thoughtful, but tough.”
One student asked, “How can you become a Member of Parliament?”
Mr Piccolo responded by saying there are various avenues to enter into politics, and that you should first think about what they would like to achieve by being involved in the political process.
“The reality is some goals can be better achieved by been involved in various not-for-profit organisations that lobby government or advocate on behalf of specific communities of interest,” said Mr Piccolo
The Q&A session lasted one hour, identical to that of Question Time in State Parliament.
“Unlike question time in Parliament, the students asked their questions respectfully, and didn’t interrupt or heckle while I was giving an answer,” said Mr Piccolo.
“I’m glad to see students thinking about the community around them, and I would not be surprised if some end up advocating for their communities on a range of issues.”
“While they disagreed on some issues, they were unanimous on their view that Trump would make a terrible President of the United States.
“It is great to see schools invest in building the capacity of their student leadership.”