Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight in support of this motion on a heartbreaking issue—namely, the unacceptable levels of poverty in the world. Personally, I have seen firsthand, during my own years working in developing countries, the impact of poverty and disease on people’s lives. I commend the member for Parramatta for bringing this motion before the House and I now understand why I saw her earlier today in the car park in her bike gear. She was obviously on her bike this morning, which is great.

This week, as previous speakers have highlighted, marks Anti-Poverty Week, and Friday, 17 October marks International Anti-Poverty Day. Our neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region, to our great shame here in Australia, have some of the highest levels of poverty in the world—poverty on a scale that we do not see here in this country. Urbanisation in this region has grown at an unparalleled pace, more than in any other region in the world, but it has come at a cost. There is no doubt that urbanisation has resulted in economic growth, and this is certainly to be applauded, but sadly it has also resulted in higher levels of poverty. According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, two out of every five people who live in urban areas in the Asia-Pacific region reside in slums with no access to clean water. In September 2000, the international community responded to the issue of poverty by coming together at United Nations headquarters to adopt the United Nations Millennium Declaration, which commits each signatory nation to reducing extreme poverty with a series of targets to be met by 2015. As we know, this declaration has become known as the Millennium Development Goals. The goals include halving extreme poverty, halting the spread of HIV-AIDS and providing universal primary education.

In September this year, the UN Secretary General convened a high-level meeting on the Millennium Development Goals. We are now at the halfway point towards the 2015 target date and we must urgently increase our efforts if we are to meet the goals by 2015. The seeds of poverty are planted in indifference, but I am pleased that we in Australia—indeed, successive governments in Australia—have embraced the Millennium Development Goals. The goals are ambitious—there is no doubt about that—but they are also achievable as long as we, as a nation, maintain our focus, our drive and our commitment to reaching them. I believe education is the key to alleviating poverty, particularly for women.

It is lamentable that in many developing nations women are often left out of the equation. I truly believe that economic change must start with women. Along with education, one way to bring about this change and empower women is through microcredit programs. The tremendous work undertaken by AusAID in providing microcredit facilities has made it possible for many thousands of men and women in countries such as China, Sri Lanka, India, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Vietnam and Vanuatu to access loan services. Microcredit provides a facility for the poorest people in the world to take care of themselves and their families and achieve some level of independence.

As Australians, our responsibility is huge, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. Poverty breeds discontent. The eradication of poverty assists with the security of our region. Everyone on our planet, irrespective of where they live, the colour of their skin or the level of their education, should have access to fresh food, clean water, shelter and education. Last year there were food riots in 30 countries, something unheard of in this country—food riots by people who cannot access food on a daily basis. According to the World Bank, 850 million people around the world are malnourished. The hurdles to achieve success are immense. Climate change, rising food prices and rising fuel prices are only a few of the challenges we face. As such, the commitment to ending poverty should be a priority for Australia and, indeed, for the world. I commend the motion to the House.

See this speech in context