Life of an American intern

Last Updated on Monday, 29 June 2009 01:15 Written by Andrew Lai Tuesday, 26 May 2009 04:16

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Life of an American Intern at Australia’s Parliament House

Travelling abroad can be daunting, you’re away from home, the food is different, the learning environment is new, the examples and analogies given in lectures are unknown to you. However your time abroad is what you make of it. Matthew has chosen to immerse himself not only in study but an working as an intern at our Parliament House and he has been rewarded by meeting the Prime Minister, President of the Senate, Opposition leader, Iraqi president. The Internships at the Australian National University (ANU) is one of may ways to maximise your time in Australia, who know who you might meet? Mathew Hymie speaks about his experience as an intern.

My name is Matthew Haynie, and I am a junior at the University of Arkansas majoring in Political Science and Journalism. When I started looking to apply for study abroad programs, I knew I wanted something more than just a study abroad experience. I began looking at political internships, since politics have always fascinated me.

However the program is not your usual internship program. The program is called Australia National Internship Program (ANIP), and it allows you to be placed with a member at Parliament House, work at an embassy, or even work at one of several government organizations. Also, unlike most political internships, ANIP allows you to have direct access to your politician, and instead of just doing busywork (answering telephones, getting coffee, preparing papers, etc.) the interns each have to complete a research project to be agreed upon by the intern and his or her placement.

For my placement, I have always been amazed with the Aboriginal people of Australia, so I put that down as my main interest when applying for ANIP. When arriving in Australia, I was ecstatic to find out that I was placed with Dr. Andrew Laming, MP, who happens to be the Deputy Chair for the House Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs.

What more could I ask for?

The first several weeks of the placement were busy, amazing, crazy, and confusing. Getting to know Andrew and my supervisor (Caroline) was incredible. I got to tour parliament house, get access to places that even most Australians never get to see in their lives.  I felt like someone walking around with my pass, having people ask my placement and my supervisor if they had hired a new staff member, it was unbelievable.

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Then the office became busy, the phones always ringing, trying to get my research topic narrowed down, going to the internship seminars, etc. However, things began to change one day. I was sitting in the office, reading some reports about the Aboriginal community stores, when the phone rang. It was someone telling Andrew that he was going to host the Iraqi Prime Minister the next day. Dr. Laming took the news and when he got off the phone, he turned to Caroline, and calmly stated the news. My supervisor (who happens to be an ex-intern) and I were so excited at the chance to get to see the Iraqi Prime Minister. I am pretty sure that the two of us were more excited and nervous than Andrew was, and he was the one who was going to be with the Prime Minister. The next day we all attended the press conference, where I was less than a meter from Kevin Rudd and Nouri al-Maliki. This experience was a once in a lifetime experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Thanks to my experience through IFSA-Butler, I have been able to come in contact with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister of Iraq, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull, President of the Senate (John Hogg), and the Speaker of the House (Harry Jenkins).

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