The 2007 winners of ABC Radio’s regional youth initiative Heywire were announced were announced this month in front of 600 young people at the Murray Darling Basin Commissions International River Health Conference in Canberra. 37 winners from across regional Australia were chosen.
Celebrating its tenth year in 2007, Heywire is a competition designed to encourage regional youth to ‘tell it like it is’ and is open to people aged 16-22 living in regional or rural Australia. Heywire seeks short stories in text, pictures, film or audio, about life in Australia outside the major cities.
The 37 Heywire winners for 2007 will have their stories told far and wide on ABC Radio and on the Heywire website – abc.net.au/heywire. They will also all travel to Canberra in February 2008 for the Heywire Youth Issues Forum at the Australian Institute of Sport.
The new Heywirers will participate in leadership and community building activities, skill-building in media and communication, and network with members of parliament, government and community leaders. They will also further explore many of the issues raised in the winning stories.
David McPherson, last year’s winner from Ballarat said of his experience:
“Heywire really opened my eyes as to what you can do if you have a go. I was really concerned about how much people waste water and how people in the cities just don’t understand what it’s like to live, day in day out, with not much water. A group of us at Heywire came up with the idea of the 40 Hour Drought and within 6 weeks the ABC ran it as a national campaign about water awareness. I just couldn’t believe something so big could happen just because we had a good idea at the time. We even got on television!”
Director of ABC Radio & Regional Content Sue Howard says she is pleased that so many young people continue to use Heywire to speak out about the things that matter to them:
“Heywire is unique, in that it gives young people in rural Australia a chance to highlight what is important to them and to their families and communities. To see the creativity, breadth and depth of the stories from all over Australia is an eye opening and a truly moving experience.”
Heywire acknowledges the support of the Australian Government through the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Department of Health and Ageing and the Department of Transport and Regional Services.
A list of winners and information about Heywire is at the website, click the link below.