Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Asian Development Bank (Additional Subscription) Bill 2009. We live in a global economy, a global society and a global environment. The stark reality could not have been more evident than in the global financial crisis in which the collapse of the financial sector in the USA led to a domino-effect collapse of economies around the world, highlighting how closely the economies of the world are interwoven.

Likewise, in dealing with the threat of climate change there is universal acceptance that we are facing a global problem requiring a global solution. In fact every significant issue that arises on any matter in any part of the world inevitably has consequences for other parts of the world. That means governments, more than ever before, must have regard to the effects of their actions on overseas countries and, conversely, they must have regard to actions or events taking place in overseas countries. That is particularly more so with our nearer neighbours.

There is, of course, a secondary and equally important reason to be interested in and in touch with people of other countries and that is because, as a civilised society, we have an international obligation to assist or support people who are disadvantaged comparative to us. Our close neighbours, the people of the Asian region, are generally regarded as living in comparative disadvantage to us and for that reason I support this bill, which is fundamentally about Australia providing support to our less prosperous Asian neighbours.

The Asian Development Bank, which is headquartered in Manila, was established 43 years ago, in 1966. Its purpose was to provide assistance to the then predominantly rural economies of Asia. Of the bank’s 67 member countries, 48 are from the Asia-Pacific region. Over the years the focus of the bank has shifted to education, health, infrastructure, industry, regional cooperation and poverty.

I will focus my comments in support of how it relates to the global financial crisis and the global economic recession, the impacts of climate change on the Asian region and the level of poverty in the Asian region.

Australia, through the early, decisive and responsible action of the Rudd government, has been shielded from the full force of the worst global recession since the Great Depression. The Australian economy has fared much better than that of other advanced economies and has been the only advanced economy to not go into recession, to record economic growth over the last two consecutive quarters and to have the lowest debt and lowest deficit of all advanced economies. We have seen strong performances in the retail sector, in housing approvals, in the construction sector and in auto sales. We have seen business confidence rise and job advertisement numbers grow—trends which I believe are attributable to the government’s economic stimulus measures.

In the long term, however, the recovery and stability of the economies of our Asian neighbours will be of critical interest to Australia. Moreover, if those economies recover quickly and remain strong it will be good for Australia. Conversely, if they recover more slowly, there will be an impact on Australia. That is because Asia represents a major export market and trade partner for Australia. Six of Australia’s top trading partners—including our two largest trading partners, China and Japan—are from Asia. Importantly, around 70 per cent of Australia’s trade is with member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, or APEC, which comprises those countries of Asia and those of North and South America.

The fact that nearly 70 per cent of Australia’s trade is with APEC countries highlights just how important the economic performance of the region around us is to our own prosperity. It is in Australia’s economic interest to ensure that the economies of our Asian neighbours remain strong. Right now, when access to finance is tight, support for the Asian Development Bank is most crucial.

I turn to the impact of global warming and climate change on the Asian region. On 19 August I attended a presentation by World Vision on the impact of climate change on developing countries. The presentation highlighted the effects of climate change on developing nations and that many developing countries are more prone to extreme weather events such as cyclones, storm surges, rising sea levels and droughts. It will be developing countries that are least able to respond to the impacts of climate change.

The consequences of climate change in the Asian region will directly impact on Australia. Many people within the Asian region live in the most vulnerable areas, such as low-lying land that can be prone to flooding or rising sea levels. In those countries, rising sea levels and floods are more likely to also destroy homes and infrastructure, which are not built to the same standards as those we apply here in Australia. Many of the poor also farm agricultural land that, even in years of stable climate and good rainfall, is marginal in its productive capacity. In many regions this land is becoming more prone to drought as a consequence of climate change.

The farmers working this land are often subsistence farmers. The result of loss in production for a subsistence farm is that the family goes without food; there is no plan B income option when all your farm produce is needed to feed your own family. The World Health Organisation estimates that climate change since the 1970s, through drought, floods, tropical disease and a shortage of fresh water, could already be causing more than 150,000 deaths per year worldwide. Moreover, it is infants who are most vulnerable.

You often hear from the climate change sceptics opposite the argument that we should not act to reduce carbon emissions because of what they perceive to be the economic costs. I note from reports in today’s papers that coalition members opposite are still in complete disarray on the question of climate change. The science and economic modelling tell us, however, that the cost of inaction, certainly in Australia, is far greater than the cost of action. The cost will be even greater in developing countries, where many regions face a complete wipe-out of their agricultural production because of climate change. In July 2009 an Oxfam report warned:

By the year 2050, about 75 million people could be forced to leave their homes in the Asia-Pacific region due to climate change. Pacific island governments are already tackling climate change-related relocation and resettlement.

In recent times, Australia quite rightly has taken a leading role in addressing many of the significant issues in our region such as in East Timor, the response to the 2004 tsunami, the Cambodian peace process in the 1990s and financial assistance during the Asian financial crisis. I welcome the recent comments by the Prime Minister emphasising the importance of our defence forces partnering with Asian countries, including China, with the focus on responding to natural disasters such as floods, tsunamis and cyclones. It is often defence personnel who are the first people on the ground in response to a disaster. These responses will be so much more effective if the action of countries is coordinated.

I also note the comments today from the World Bank on the release of their 2010 World Development Report. The report notes that while advanced economies are responsible for two-thirds of carbon emissions, poor countries in Africa and South Asia will bear the brunt of the impact through drought, rising sea levels and extreme weather. The report goes on to say that the cost of climate change in the developing world will be up to US$470 billion, or A$547 billion, each year by 2030. Wealthy countries such as Australia should help pay to fix the climate change problems. The report states that a ‘climate smart’ world is feasible, but it will only happen if the countries of the world ‘act now, act together and act differently’. The report goes on to say that coping with climate change will require all the innovation and ingenuity that the human race is capable of. The report finds that it will require large shifts in lifestyle, an energy revolution and a transformation in the way forests and agricultural lands are managed. As an advanced economy, Australia is expected to show leadership in both reducing carbon emissions and responding to the threats of climate change by providing support to those vulnerable Asian countries now as they prepare for global warming impacts.

I have already said that within Asia we can see regions of extreme poverty. There are also regions in Asia where we have seen some of the most rapid economic growth and increase in living standards in our lifetimes. In 1960, South Korea had a smaller economy than Ghana. Today, South Korea is a prosperous and industrial First World economy and Australia’s sixth largest trading partner. Other success stories in Asia followed, through similar growth in places like Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. However, the Asian financial crisis of 1997 showed how vulnerable these export focused East Asian economies can be to downturns in the global economy. The global economic crisis could drive millions of people from the Asian region back into poverty. We have seen many cases in China where migrant workers have come to the manufacturing hubs in East China only to lose their jobs as demand for Chinese exports from the West dropped and factories closed. These people moved from one side of the country to the other seeking a better life for themselves and their families and have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

World Vision estimates that as a consequence of the global financial crisis an additional 26,000 children are dying each day. Before the global economic crisis began, we were already in the midst of a global food crisis, already threatening the livelihoods of billions of impoverished people in developing nations in Asia and around the world. In the past 50 years, no region has lifted more people out of poverty than Asia. But no region is more at risk than Asia because of the economic and environmental challenges the world currently faces.

On Monday I met with a delegation from Micah Challenge, who spoke to me about global poverty and the Millennium Development Goals. I understand that they spoke to a number of members of parliament about those same matters. Micah Challenge is a global movement of Christian aid and development agencies, churches and individuals who aim to deepen people’s engagement with the poor and to reduce poverty. The delegation highlighted to me, and to the others they spoke to, the compounding effects the global financial crisis and climate change would have on developing countries—and why in the face of these global issues it is even more critical for us to maintain our commitment to increasing aid assistance to developing countries. Micah Challenge would like to see Australia increase its international aid target to 0.7 per cent of gross national income, a figure the Prime Minister has previously stated that we should aspire to, and which I agree with.

The delegation from Micah Challenge included representatives from King’s Baptist Grammar School in the electorate of Makin, which I represent. Those representatives handed to me over 400 letters and cards written by schoolchildren from King’s Baptist Grammar School urging the government to increase our foreign aid to poor countries. I took the time to read most of those letters and cards and it was gratifying to see the young people, right through from the primary part of the school to the secondary school students, showing so much care and compassion for their counterparts in impoverished nations in other parts of the world, and their pleas for governments around the world that have the capacity to increase aid to be heard. It is encouraging because clearly these are young people who in future years will have responsibility themselves about world aid matters and government generally. But it is encouraging that the young people of today understand both their moral obligations to others around the world and also the threats being presented to particularly those Third World countries by climate change. I hope that, just as they are making representations and appealing to members of parliament like me, similarly children around the country are doing the same thing through their own members of parliament. My reading of today’s younger generation is that they very well understand the importance of developed countries assisting developing countries and they understand the significant threats being posed by climate change.

The children asked that I pass on their letters and cards to the Prime Minister. These cards and letters are in addition to the hundreds I had passed on to the Prime Minister from the same school earlier this year. In speaking about the children, I also commend the leadership at King’s Baptist Grammar School for encouraging children to think about people in poorer countries and to encourage greater support from the Australian government for those people.

The Asian Development Bank has the reduction of poverty as a core focus of its work. The measures in this bill will mean Australia plays its part in increasing the bank’s capacity to do its work. Importantly, the Asian Development Bank and other institutions have also placed combating climate change at the forefront of their work. This bill empowers the Asian Development Bank to take action in response to the key moral challenges of our age: climate change and ending poverty. The government’s commitment to this bill is one of many measures that it is implementing to support people in developing countries. I welcome the increased support the Australian government is providing under this bill and I commend it to the House.

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