Alison Quirk just returned from a political boot camp in Sydney with more than 160 colleagues from around the state preparing for the YMCA Youth Parliament.  

From Thursday through Sunday the teenage politicians learnt everything from drafting policy to handling the media.  

In their downtime, the participants had a chance to discuss issues and chat about interests outside of school and politics. 

For the Moree Secondary College student and trainee nurse, that meant starting with the basics. 

“I spent a lot of the time explaining where Moree was,” Alison said.

That lack of country voices has already fired up Alison to plan for next year’s conference, where she hopes to once again be the youth representative for the Northern Tablelands.

“There was a very limited number of or rural people there; most were from within Sydney,” she said. 

“So hopefully I can go again next year as well and continue to push for more diversity.” 

But Alison won’t have to wait for 2016 before entering the halls of NSW Parliament. She’ll be back in Sydney from July 4 to 11 to present a bill at the Youth Parliament in Macquarie Street.

The bill will address how to phase out the use of coal in NSW and encourage the use of renewable energies.

It was an issue Alison identified as one of her core concerns, alongside addressing disadvantages faced by people in regional communities.

“Going to a public school and working within the public health system, it is something that I see face to face everyday,” she said.

Now in Year 12, Alison also holds down a part-time job as she saves ahead of going to university next year. Though she is currently leaning towards applying to study nursing at Newcastle, Alison – in true political fashion – has not ruled out a career in parliament. 

“Politics...I’m not sure yet,” she said. “This is the first time I’ve got to participate in it rather than follow it through the media, so I guess a lot depends on how July goes.”