Last night I spoke in Parliament about Ally Smith, a student at Whitebridge High School, who is campaigning to lower the age at which people can give blood in Australia. This is what I said:



At the beginning of this week I had the great pleasure of participating in the Children's Week Parliament. As a member of Parliament on the MPs Panel on Monday, I was pleased to hear and respond to questions from students.

One of the young participants was AllySmith, a student from Whitebridge High School, representing my electorate of Charlestown. Given the limited time on Monday to raise issues in detail, Ally subsequently emailed me to provide more information on an issue that she is very passionate about. Ally told me about an HSC student at her school who needs regular blood transfusions as he battles cancer. She wants the mobile Red Cross van to visit her school and other schools in the area so that students can give blood.

Ally told me that this is not currently possible because the minimum age at which people can donate blood is 18. She told me that she wants to fight for the blood donor age to be lowered to16 so that she can help her friend and others like him.

Ally is a young person who is filled with drive and compassion, and I admire her greatly.