Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and the Norfolk Island Youth Assembly

Elsewhere in this issue you will find an update of events being co-coordinated to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11 to mark the 60 years of her reign. The official celebrations will commence on Monday the 4^th of June with a number of activities planned starting at the School where a new social networking site will be launched in the school library.  The site is designed to facilitate Norfolk Island’s Youth Assembly communicating with other youth organisations around the Commonwealth of Nations.  The mission statement for the initiative is - 

To create an innovative online environment for Youth Assemblies and Youth Parliaments within the Commonwealth to engage, network, discuss and learn from each other.  By sharing information about their own legislatures and local issues the youth in the Commonwealth will not only gain knowledge of their own parliaments and processes, but they will learn of, and from, others around the globe. 

To provide a social networking site for new Youth Assemblies and Parliaments to access high level educational downloads and contact details for help and assistance from established Youth Assemblies and Parliaments within the CPA. 

To present opportunities for Members of Parliament to access the site, mentor and engage with the youth on relevant topics and issues.

To allow students that were involved in the creation of the site in their youth to stay involved and to help mentor and engage the youth of the Commonwealth. 

 

Readers will recall that Norfolk Island and the Isle of Man signed a Cultural Agreement on 5 July 2011 in the Isle of Man.  The Agreement includes a statement of intent that “Educational establishments should be encouraged to exchange ideas, ultimately with a view to an exchange student scheme”. The social networking site is a first step to achieving this aim and it is intended that the first link up be with a Youth Council in the Isle of Man. 

Norfolk Island and Niue Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Branches to enter into a “twinning partnership”

It is with much pleasure that we report that the Norfolk Island and Niue CPA Branches have agreed to enter into a twinning partnership under the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Australian and Pacific twinning program.  Niue and Northern Territory CPA Branches are already twinned under the program so this new partnership provides an additional twinned parliament for Niue. Speaker Adams has this morning received a letter from the Honourable Ahohiva Levi, Speaker of the Niue Legislative Assembly, in which he and Members of his Parliament endorse this new partnership arrangement which they see as being of mutual benefit to both of our Islands.

June sitting of the Legislative Assembly

The next scheduled sitting of the Legislative Assembly is Wednesday 6 June 2012 at 10 am at a Ceremonial Sitting to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee; and at 11 am on the same day for the purpose of conducting its usual business.

To read the Notice Paper, Programme, Minutes of Proceedings and legislation tabled in the House go to www.info.gov.nf. Issued from the Office of the Speaker on 18 May 2012 and posted on the blog site http://yourparliamentyourvoice.blogspot.com