Phillip Barresi (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

‘Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural; it is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.’ This is a statement by Nelson Mandela, and how true it is. The effects of global poverty are massive. Every year more than 11 million children, most under the age of five, die of hunger and preventable diseases—that is over 30,000 per day and one every three seconds. More than six million die annually from completely preventable causes such as malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia, and another six million will die from malnutrition before their fifth birthday. Over 300 million children who go to bed every day—more than 90 per cent—are suffering from long-term malnourishment. The really disturbing thing is that these children do not have to die. The malnutrition and disease are preventable. So I welcome the chance to speak on this motion put by my friend the member for Macquarie.

That the Australian public has taken on this cause, whether through the Micah Challenge or the Oaktree Foundation’s Knock Out Poverty day, is something that needs to be welcomed. Make Poverty History is, indeed, a cause that every Australian and every humanitarian minded individual on this globe should embrace. I dare say the only people who could possibly disagree with the eight Millennium Development Goals are those despots who have vested interests in making people remain in poverty.

I had the chance to speak to a group of young people in my electorate over the weekend. The Oaktree Foundation and those in the churches through the Micah Challenge banded together and over 200 predominantly young people made a small sacrifice in an attempt to make poverty history. They committed to doorknock sections of my electorate of Deakin on Saturday afternoon in an attempt to raise awareness about the Millennium Development Goals. I congratulate those young people for their passion. It is fantastic to see a cause that can bind people together with one goal in mind—and that is to raise awareness and, more importantly, to achieve action in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. I was impressed by the maturity with which the group approached this problem. They understand the importance of effectively communicating their message in a bipartisan, apolitical way, and for that they are to be congratulated. These young people have a cause that they believe in and that they are prepared to fight for. This cause is not self-serving, it is not egotistical; it is compassionate and altruistic. We as a government need to commit our attention to these young people, follow their example and heed the call that they and many others around Australia and around the world have been making upon us as the decision makers.

Of course there has been a response at government level. I note the comments from those on the other side who have acknowledged the move by this government to increase aid, but I also note their comments that more needs to be done. Of course more can always be done, but we do need to recognise where a response has been made. Last year the Prime Minister announced that the aid allocation would be increased to about $4 billion a year by 2010. It shows this government’s commitment to poverty reduction, sustainable development and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. We have also seen that in 2006-07 Australia will provide just under $3 billion in official development assistance. This is an increase of $455 million. We are committed to providing targeted debt relief.

I note, in the response of the Make Poverty History campaign to the white paper on aid, a table of where the nations in our part of the world lie on the various goals. The example that struck me was that of Papua New Guinea. The table shows that on every goal they are languishing. We need to be reminded that Papua New Guinea is the greatest recipient of aid from this country; over $500 million per annum goes to Papua New Guinea. What this demonstrates to me is that money is not the only answer to resolving poverty in this world. If money were the answer we would not see campaigns like this needing to be waged over and over again. There are other aspects to it, and that is why I believe the Millennium Development Goals are a refreshing change to what is required, because they do tackle the issue of trade and they do tackle the issue of governance and partnerships. (Time expired)

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