Kerry Rea (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Every three seconds, a child under five dies from preventable causes. Every minute, a woman dies needlessly in pregnancy or childbirth. These statistics are simply unacceptable in a modern world, and that is why I rise in the House this evening to support and encourage the campaign that is being run by the Make Poverty History coalition around Millennium Development Goal 5, concerning maternal and child health. Millennium Development Goal 5 aims to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three-quarters and achieve universal access to reproductive health care by 2015. It is a very important goal. Whilst the others are equally important, I think this is a particular issue that we as elected representatives in what is often considered the lucky country—and indeed all of us as citizens of Australia—should take note of and we should support initiatives to reduce these terrible statistics.

Every year, some eight million women suffer pregnancy related complications, and over half a million women die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, 99 per cent of them in developing countries. Maternal deaths in Asia and the Pacific account for almost half of the global total. So not only do we have a universal responsibility; we have a responsibility to the many women and children and families within our own region who deserve our support and assistance.

The World Health Organisation has stated:

It is estimated that more than 80 per cent of maternal deaths could be prevented or avoided through actions that are proven to be effective and affordable, even in resource-poor countries.

More than 50 per cent of women in the world’s poorest regions deliver their babies without the help of a skilled birth attendant. Almost two-thirds of the eight million infant deaths that occur each year are due primarily to poor maternal health and hygiene and to deficiencies in maternal and newborn health services.

As a country that is developed and has many resources and a sometimes not so perfect health service but one that does give people access to much better health care than is available in many developing nations, we know that to support women and children in those countries is not just a moral responsibility but actually fundamental to the survival of those nations and those societies. If you take a woman out of those communities, not only do you see an unnecessary death but you see a family and a community fall apart because not only do women produce children and care for the home; they are also responsible for the support of the frail and vulnerable within those communities, where there is often no other system that can help them. So to take women out of those communities is a fundamental blow to their survival and their development.

It goes without saying that to support women through education and better health services is the best way in which we can give assistance to those developing nations. Independent analysis says that educating women, empowering women and improving women’s health are just about the best investments we can make to achieve improved development outcomes. Educated women tend to put their income back into supporting their children and supporting their family.

I would like to once again support and encourage the Make Poverty History campaign. Within my own electorate of Bonner, we have a very well-organised coalition run by the coordinator, Gillian Marshall, a passionate and very dedicated young woman who has managed to bring together a diverse range of people from churches and various community organisations to make sure that the Australian community is aware of these statistics. I encourage everyone, not just within the electorate of Bonner but throughout the whole country, to do what we can to achieve these Millennium Development Goals. Forty-nine million dollars from the government to support health resources for poor communities in Indonesia is one significant step, but we can do more as a community. (Time expired)

See this speech in context