IF BOORT District School students thought school timetables were demanding, a glimpse of the schedule of members in State Parliament has sent them home thinking their lives aren’t too bad after all.
Students from Years 9, 10 and 12 studying politics as a VCE subject were given a parliamentary masterclass by the member for Murray Plains and former Boort school student Peter Walsh.
As a former Minister in the Baillieu/Napthine government, and decade-long leader of the Nationals before standing down in last December after deciding not to contest his sixth election in November next year, Mr Walsh knows only too well the demands of the system – and the bureaucracy – when navigating the legislative nightmare.
He explained to students the timeframe involved in planning, preparing, passing and proclaiming new laws and why nothing happens overnight, or as fast as it is sometimes promised.
The number of participants swelled unexpectedly when a group of Year 3s and 4s joined the presentation to complement work they are doing on understanding the three levels of government in Australia.
“I’m pretty sure the complexity of the process might have left a few of the youngsters scratching their heads as there was plenty to absorb,” he said.
“ but I always find it rewarding when I meet a new generation wanting to know more about how our country is actually run and the system on which that is based,” Mr Walsh says. 
“They also had some curly question for afterwards, from my opinion on local issues such as the VNI West power lines to seriously global geopolitics and the expansionist position of China.
“And I was delighted by the engagement of the primary school children, who must have been more confused by my talk but several of them still had some very good questions at the end and weren’t afraid to ask them.”
Teachers Drew Crilly and Jenny Ritchie organised the Thursday morning event, which they say is just one part of the plans for this year. 
Plans which have already seen their Loddon Shire ward councillor David Weaver come and talk about local government, and next term there will be a trip to Bendigo to see the justice system in action at the magistrates’ court there.
“It is so helpful for the students to have people like Peter and David give up their time to come and talk to the students, and let them hear firsthand about how government works and what it can, and cannot, achieve,” Ms Ritchie says. 
“We find a combination of having people comes and talk to the students provides a different perspective and a different kind of lesson, and then taking them on excursions, such as the proposed trip to the courts in Bendigo, lets them see the things happening in front of their eyes.”
“A combination of excursions and incursions adds so much to the learning experience – and it also connected with the students when they realised Peter had gone to their school, they weren’t just talking to someone who knew nothing about the local story.”