Seventeen-year-old Holly Timmins has been getting a first-hand taste of what it’s like to be a politician.
The Hauraki Plains College student was selected to be Port Waikato MP Andrew Bayly’s representative in the 2025 Youth Parliament.
The programme, which runs from April 28 to August 29, sees 143 youths from the age of 16-18 shadowing a member of parliament as they attend meetings, chat with constituents, and go about their regular duties.
They will also attend a two-day Youth Parliament event in Wellington – meeting their fellow youth MPs, attending think-tank sessions, and preparing presentations on a number of topics affecting New Zealand.
For Holly, the decision to apply was easy.
“I’ve always had an interest in politics,” she said.
“I care deeply about my country and hope to encourage my generation to stay in New Zealand and contribute in a positive way.”
The experience so far had been eye-opening, she said.
“I went to the Anzac Day services in Pokeno and Waiuku, and at the Waiuku service, I read the Governor-General’s speech,” she said.
“I think not many get the opportunity to walk around with Andrew Bayly, and I’m actually really impressed with him. It’s definitely been a lot of fun.”
Holly said the most valuable part of the experience so far had not been learning about the political ideals of her mentor, but rather the way he deals with issues in the job itself; things like personal safety, information-gathering, and remaining impartial when addressing constituents’ concerns.
“He’s giving me pointers as he does things… about reading people and seeing what they need and how they need to be spoken to,” she said.
“The way he interacts with people and the way he talks about his goals for the future, just keeping calm.
“Another big thing that he taught was how to say no, because obviously there are some people who have really bad struggles, but you can’t always give them exactly what they need.”
Meanwhile, Holly has also been attending online meetings with her peers. Her group has been assigned the topic of gambling, a subject which Holly said she knows little about – but she’s eager to learn.
“I don’t actually know too much about gambling, which is fine because I’m quite interested to research and learn about it,” she said.
“And then, in the school holidays, I go down to Parliament, and I get to present a speech, as well as [the] group study project.”
Holly’s real passion, however, is education. She said she hoped to one day be able to improve the education system and career opportunities for other young New Zealanders.
And while she intends to keep up with politics in the future, it’s the internal workings of the system that interests her most.
“I definitely am going to keep doing politics in the future, even if it’s just a hobby, just keeping up with it. Because it’s hard being a politician in this country,” Holly said.
“But I’m more interested in the inside stuff. It’s about knowing what’s actually going on. And if I read something online, I think, oh, is that true? Maybe I should do a bit more research.
“I’m interested in the truth.”
