You know you're going to at least search for him in the contact directory now
Mr A.J. SIMPSON: [...] I also mentioned that people are able to contact me via MSN. The idea behind using MSN was that it was the latest way of getting in touch with people. I can also be contacted by SMS, which is how many kids communicate. It is kind of a shame, because people will probably lose their communication skills by using SMS. The beauty of e-mail and SMS is that one can choose whether to answer a message today or tomorrow. It is not like the phone ringing and having to talk to someone. That is the way kids communicate these days. I thought that if I could provide this service, I might be able to capture more of the youth market as a member of Parliament. It would enable them to talk to me and me to talk to them and hopefully answer their questions. I probably average a dozen messages a week. Some weeks I get a lot and other weeks I get only two or three. I am sometimes asked straightforward questions. One kid asked me the other day about how to get a skate park in his area. [...] After about a 20-minute conversation, this kid knew a lot more about politics, how the system works and how to chase up getting a skate park. He probably cannot vote for me for another four or five years, but that is beside the point. I think he was happy to do that.
Mr A.D. McRae: He would be a Labor voter anyway.
Mr A.J. SIMPSON: I do not know. If he is using the Internet and telecommunications, he is probably more likely to be a Liberal voter.
Mr M.P. Murray: Do you know the difference between a Labor voter and a computer? With computers you only have to punch in the information once.
Subject: Criminal Code Amendment (Cyber Predators) Bill 2005 [Legislative Assembly - Motion]
Date: 8 November 2005
Hansard reference: pp. 6891b - 6907a [online (pdf)]
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