"Scouting brings together young people from across faiths, cultures and countries. It builds not only a volunteering spirit but also tolerance between people who may not come across each other in their normal lives."

Address to the Federation Chamber - Constituency Statements: World Scout Jamboree

Thursday 16 November 2023

Earlier this year, I caught up with a couple of junior scouts who wrote to me about their upcoming trip to the World Scout Jamboree held in South Korea earlier this year. The jamboree brought together more than 40,000 participants. Josh and Lily from my electorate were part of a large Scouts Australian contingent of almost 1,000. They were both excited to be travelling overseas for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. After hearing about how excited they were and the different experiences they were looking forward to having, I set a challenge: report back to me so that I can update the parliament. Here is what junior scout Lily Mills had to say when she reflected on her first overseas travel experience:

"Our jamboree started on 28th of July 2023. We met at a Murray's bus station and hopped on the bus to Sydney airport. The plane ride was long and boring but exciting, nonetheless.

We arrived in South Korea around 08:00 and spent the day looking at some street markets where we bought many traditional Korean street foods, went to a cat Cafe and bought some souvenirs before heading to the museum. After that, we headed back to our hotel and checked in …

We spent 3 more nights at the hotel in Seoul sightseeing and buying food and souvenirs as well as running into many other scouts in the streets along the way. There were a few complications along the way such as getting lost, losing things and people being grumpy or silly but nothing we couldn't work out.

We spent six days at the main camp, enduring the heat and humidity. Despite receiving heat warnings twice a day and many falling ill, we didn't let it dampen our spirits. There were moments of frustration and conflict, but nothing serious. Despite everything, we still had a blast, experiencing many new things and interacting with people from different countries.

On the last day of camp, we were evacuated due to a typhoon. I would've liked to meet more people, but it wasn't bad because we got to stay in air-conditioned areas and hang out in hotels. We even connected more with people staying in the same hotels, including some from Britain.

This gave us more opportunities for sightseeing …"

I would like to thank Lily for sharing her experiences with me so I that could share it with my colleagues here today. Scouting brings together young people from across faiths, cultures and countries. It builds not only a volunteering spirit but also tolerance between people who may not come across each other in their normal lives. Clearly, for anyone who read any of the reports about the jamboree in Korea, it builds an extraordinary capacity to adapt to challenge. Those scouts had to deal with typhoons, and they had to deal with record heat and humidity. But, as comes through Lily's words clearly today, they did so with good spirit and built greater connections across the world.