After previously winning the club’s local competition, where contestants are judged on leadership and public speaking, Hunter progressed to the regional final, which took place in Inverell against contestants from surrounding towns.

They had to answer two impromptu questions and attempt to speak for two minutes each time, and later they delivered a five-minute prepared speech.

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“They’re always difficult,” Hunter said afterwards about the impromptu questions, where the students were asked about limiting screen usage in the first question, then asked how to successfully annoy their parents in the second question.

“They’re probably the part I struggled with the most, but I think it’s hard for everyone.”

When answering the first question about screen usage, Hunter suggested restricting the usage of phones and computer screens for children, when they’re brains are still developing, then when asked the second question about annoying parents, he provided examples of times when he had stirred his parents.

Later in the evening, when it came time for the prepared speeches, Hunter spoke about the benefits of self-education when compared with compulsory education, listing some famous examples of people who had been self-educated, including Leonardo da Vinci.

“I was always encouraged when I was younger to read, and that got me off on the right track, reading a lot of books, and I had an interest in da Vinci from a young age and what he’d achieved and that was a bit of an inspiration,” Hunter said.

“I studied more about him and other people who succeeded and I decided that was what I wanted to talk about.

“It was something I believed in,” he said.

The Guyra Central School student, who is in year 12, was one of four contestants in the regional Youth of the Year final, which has been a long-running competition.

Among the other finalists were two from Glen Innes, and Armidale’s Gabi Parsons, who was the evening’s winner and will go through to the next stage of the competition at the district final in Gunnedah later this month.