Whether or not Brigid Buckley pursues a career in international diplomacy, she is fast becoming an expert in the machinations of the political and economic world.
That learning process will continue duringMay when the Griffith Honours College student attends the annual forum of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris.
The 21-year-old will be part of a fully sponsored, six-member Australian youth delegation in France under the auspices of Global Voices, a non-profit organisation established in 2011 to help young Australians engage with international policy.
The OECD forum caps a hectic time for Brigid, who in the past two months hasparticipated in the BrizMUN model United Nations conference in Brisbane andtravelled to Canberra where she met Governor-General Quentin Bryce, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and key figures from the French Embassy and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
“That was a memorable time because I was with the Global Voices group in the Federal Parliament in March when the Labor leadership crisis erupted,” Brigid said. “It was such an eye-opener, an exciting and fascinating perspective on the intensity of modern politics.”
A graduate of Upper Mt Gravatt’s Clairvaux MacKillop College, Brigid is a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) student at Griffith University, receiving its Arts Medal in 2012.
Recently she worked as a research assistant at Griffith’s School of Government and International Relations, focusing on natural disaster management. She is also completing a Research Fellowship with Global Voices.
Understandably excited about the Paris forum, Brigid will be sponsored by the Griffith Honours College and said she was looking forward to enhancing her skills and knowledge of economics and development.
“I’ll be preparing a paper looking at the concept of economic education, the notion that if people had a better understanding of economics they might be more trusting of the moves made by groups such as the OECD.”
The OECD comprises 34 countries with the aim of improving economic and social well-being throughout the world.