Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on this motion on poverty and, like my colleagues, I thank and commend the member for Parramatta for bringing this matter to the attention of the House and Australians generally. Australia is a very lucky country. Australians are blessed to live in a land that is not only free and democratic but rich in culture, wealth and opportunity. It is that opportunity that allows us to develop our talents and to fulfil our goals and dreams. We are the blessed ones in any eyes. That is not the case for hundreds and hundreds of millions of our fellow citizens across the world. That is why this motion is important. Although there are very difficult global economic challenges, relatively speaking Australians live in prosperity, in harmony and in a peaceful nation. Therefore, it is all the more important that we in the parliament remember that there are so many who do not have the opportunities that we in this country have.

This week is Anti-Poverty Week. It aims to strengthen the public understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and hardship around the world and in our own part of the world, the Asia-Pacific region. It aims to remind us to encourage research, to discuss all the issues around poverty and trying to alleviate poverty and to address these problems in a collaborative and sustainable fashion. This includes actions by individuals, communities, organisations and governments at all levels. The principal national sponsors of this week are Community Sector Banking and Jobs Australia. There are some 13 national sponsors. I thank them for their participation in Anti-Poverty Week. Anti-Poverty Week has grown from four activities in 2002 to more than 250 registered activities last year. That shows the interest of Australians in doing their bit and raising awareness in the community.

In Australia Make Poverty History is a coalition of more than 68 agencies, community groups and religious organisations. The coalition seeks to ensure the Australian government creates policies that guarantee and improve aid. It focuses on debt relief, fairer trade, helping poorer communities to keep their governments as accountable as possible and trying to honour the commitments made to the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Development Goals are of deep interest to my constituents in the western suburbs of Brisbane in the Ryan electorate. It is an electorate that is very community minded and that takes a deep interest in the affairs of our region and the world, particularly the struggling parts of our world. The Millennium Development Goals are a series of goals and milestones aimed at trying to halve poverty by 2015. The eight main goals are: to end poverty and hunger, to achieve universal education, to reduce child mortality, to promote gender equality, to improve maternal health, to combat HIV-AIDS, to ensure environmental sustainability and to develop a global partnership for development. The goal is to meet all MDGs by 2015, and rich countries need to more than double their current aid levels. As a member of the national parliament of Australia, I want to lend my support to this tremendously worthwhile and visionary initiative.

We live in a very fortunate country, but in our region there are so many countries that are struggling. My mother is of Chinese background and I have heard the stories of how she grew up in desperate poverty in China. My wife is Vietnamese and I have heard her stories of deep poverty in the towns and the villages that she grew up in with her family in Vietnam. I grew up in the country to our north, Papua New Guinea, and I have had a little bit of exposure to the great challenges of so many people. I very sincerely add my voice to this motion and thank the member for Parramatta for her initiative. I ask all my colleagues to try and focus on this as well as on all the other main issues in the national debates of this country.

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