I gaze around the room of girls, two with mouths agape. Having just introduced ourselves, I could have never guessed the greatest gossip at this leadership summit was that I lived 7 hours north. “Wait, isn’t that the outback? How many horses and cows do you own? Are there even schools out there?” The questions continued as the isolation set in, before I realised. Young leaders shape our communities, we shape our future. Here, I was able to change the perception of the town I live in, and educate just this handful of girls. But it was a start.

The country has a story to tell and it’s up to young leaders to tell it.

It starts with the dinner table chatter. Prattle in the playground. The long drives between towns. “The hills are starting to look pretty dry,” or “Nah, we don’t have a teacher for maths today.” The media spews out impassive articles using impressive terms with equally impressive statistics like, ‘El Nino,’ ‘Skilled Labour Shortage,’ or ‘Mental Health Crisis.’

But that doesn’t tell the country’s story. That doesn’t tell my story.

Our country’s story is found in the youth of tomorrow. The leaders of tomorrow. Our story is found in the youth who aren’t afraid to knock on Parliament’s door to demand change. Those brave enough to strike for climate, for First Nations rights, against wind farms. Those who raise awareness for their communities; speak, shout, yell, whatever it takes to make their voices heard. They strengthen our communities. They tell our story.

But it’s not just them.

It’s the boy that can captured the heart of the country with paint the way words could never. It’s the girl that plans on being the first in her family to go to university to make a difference and become a role model. It’s the young man who signed up to the RFS to share fire-containing methods that his forefathers have used for 60,000 years. It’s the youth that dare to change stereotypes and stigma around gender, and feel proud in their own skin. Our story is told through the girls determined to take over the family farm, the children taking on the weight of the world when things are tough on the farm.

That’s what tells this country’s story

If you want to look at our rural community, you have to look at the youth of today. They strengthen our community in unimaginable ways. We are trailblazers, dreamers, thinkers, problem solvers, game-changers. Everyday, we are told that we are the future, that one day, we take over this country, and we take this in our stride. We come from all different backgrounds, races, socioeconomic statuses, life experiences, but it’s in these differences that we know our story. That’s how we stay strong.

The Country has a story to tell. It’s about time that Canberra hears it too.