Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased that the Official Development Assistance Multilateral Replenishment Obligations (Special Appropriation) Bill 2019 has come before the House today, as it gives both the government and those on this side of the House an opportunity to recommit our pledge to be a team player on the world stage and, in particular, to contribute our fair share to improve the lives of our Pacific neighbours close by. I am disappointed that not one government speaker is bothering to speak on this legislation today, because this is a very important issue.

I follow on from the member for Shortland and his very considered remarks today about this issue. As he indicated, Labor supports this bill, which is a special appropriation to enable the government to meet its commitments to replenish a range of multilateral development funds over coming years. I want to outline those to the House today. They include the International Development Association, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative, the Asian Development Fund, the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund and the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol, which provides assistance to developing countries in phasing out ozone-depleting substances.

These multilateral funds carry out essential work in tackling poverty and promoting economic growth and sustainable development in some of the world's poorest countries. This is an important pillar in Australia's contribution to global economic and social development and to tackling environmental challenges. All of these funds are important, and I'm happy to see the government making strides towards meeting our commitments towards these initiatives. However, despite this, in recent times we've seen behaviour and actions from the government that would indicate that they are not prepared to be a genuine team player on the world stage and, in fact, are slowly eroding Australia's long-held reputation as a leader in the Pacific when it comes to international development.

Since this government came to office in 2013, it has cut $11.8 billion from Australia's aid programs. Media reports earlier this year said these cuts were 'a dereliction of duty' towards helping our Pacific neighbours and those less fortunate around the world. As a result, Australian official development assistance is on track to fall to just 0.19 per cent of gross national income. This will be the lowest level of ODA as a share of gross national income since the Commonwealth started publishing the data in 1961.

At its highest point, in 2012-13 under Labor, Australian aid reached 0.34 per cent of GNI. But, since then, we've seen cut after cut by this government. Aid is now falling even more quickly than it rose during the scale-up. It means that Australia is now the least generous we have been. Under Prime Minister Morrison, Australia's international aid is lower as a share of national income than it was under Liberal Prime Ministers Menzies, Holt, Gorton, McMahon, Fraser and Howard. Australia's aid budget as a share of GNI has fallen from the middle of the pack of the OECD to one of the least generous amounts ever offered within the OECD Development Assistance Committee member countries.

I want to say very clearly to the House today, as someone who represents a large Pacific Islander community in the parliament of Australia, that this is embarrassing for us as a country. I know this because this week I met in person with representatives from the Micah Voices for Justice delegation, who visited Australia and Parliament House in their hundreds to have their message heard that Australia can and must do better. I was pleased to meet with: Reverend James Bhagwan, the general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches in Fiji; Reverend Ikani Tolu, the general secretary of the Tongan National Council of Churches; Reverend Sepi, the general secretary of the Anglican Diocese of Polynesia; and Robyn Robertson from Riverlife Baptist Church in my community. Riverlife Baptist Church do amazing work not just here in this country; their outreach across the world should be commended.

We spoke about their vision for Australian aid and discussed how the 'Pacific step-up' can prioritise the needs of the region's most poor, vulnerable and oppressed. They were among over 200 Australian Christians, joined by 15 Pacific church leaders, who came to parliament to share their support for Australian aid and discuss what the 'Pacific step-up' means for Pacific people. Their key message was to call on the government to ensure our foreign aid policy empowers local communities in the Pacific to lead their own inclusive and sustainable development as well as recognising the needs of the most vulnerable, though often resilient, members of our Pacific family—women and children.

This is reflected in five recommendations from Micah Australia as part of Australia's shifting aid focus to the Pacific: ensure the new aid policy empowers local communities in the Pacific to lead their own inclusive and sustainable development; ensure the new aid policy recognises the needs of the most vulnerable members of our Pacific family, particularly women and children; work with Australian church and Christian development agencies to leverage and amplify the strength of the Pacific church as a key partner for human development; ensure the new aid policy recognises the impact of climate change in the Pacific, including the increasing risk and impact of natural disasters; and ensure the 'Pacific step-up' is not at the cost of 'stepping down elsewhere in the world'.

I thank Reverend Bhagwan, Reverend Tolu, Reverend Sepi, Robyn and all the delegates for their commitment, hard work and dedication to this cause. I'm someone who is going to keep fighting for this issue, because our community in this country and right across our region needs to have a stronger voice. I look forward to working with you to advance this and ensure that Australia meets its obligations to our Pacific neighbours and friends. I personally saw the positive impact our contribution makes when I visited the Solomon Islands in 2018. You hear and you read a lot about our Pacific neighbours, but seeing is believing. Sitting there with aid workers, church leaders and members of the community was an eye-opening experience. To see firsthand the poverty, the disadvantage, the violence and the family and domestic violence, in particular, was something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

There's no doubt that a well-funded and strategic foreign aid program definitely works. That's why I and the Labor Party on this side of the chamber are strong supporters of Australia's international development program. I want to acknowledge the work of the member for Shortland, our shadow foreign minister, Penny Wong, and a whole range of Labor frontbenchers who are raising this and keeping this a really strong issue not only in our country but right across the region. In particular, today, I want to acknowledge the work of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Richard Marles, who has long had a passion and a desire to see these issues raised to front and centre of mainstream issues but who also is a firm believer in strong, deep and lasting relationships with our Pacific neighbours, as is the member for Brand, the shadow trade minister, who has done an enormous amount of policy work in this area.

It benefits not only developing countries but also Australia as a nation. Growth in developing countries creates new trade and investment opportunities for Australia that will not only help lift people in developing countries out of poverty but also support Australian jobs. Tackling poverty in developing countries is also in Australia's national interest because it means a more stable and secure international environment in which we may do business and promote tourism. More than this, it is an investment in a better future for our neighbours and our world.

Foreign aid improves things like education, health, gender equality, agriculture and economic development so developing countries can trade and compete in the international market. It helps create a significant difference in communities around the developing world, promoting social and economic stability, peace and prosperity, which benefits everyone. Every year, Australian aid improves the lives of literally millions of people around the world. Examples include a 25 per cent increase in the number of trained midwives in Fiji. As the son of a midwife, this is particularly important to me personally. It is also helping 87,000 people get access to safe water and sanitation in countries like Sri Lanka.

But, whilst Australia continues to provide a track record in supporting these initiatives, the current Prime Minister continues to undermine our important role in the Pacific and, indeed, on the world stage. On the one hand, Prime Minister Morrison is out in the public area undermining Australia's commitment to multilateral institutions with his rhetoric about negative globalism. At the same time, his government is bringing legislation like this into the parliament to support Australia's contributions to those institutions. Which one is it? Earlier this year, when the Prime Minister was speaking at the Lowy Institute, he said:

We should avoid any reflex towards a negative globalism that coercively seeks to impose a mandate from an often ill defined borderless global community. And worse still, an unaccountable internationalist bureaucracy.

This bill exposes the Prime Minister's hypocrisy concerning the so-called unaccountable and internationalist institutions. It's another example of the Prime Minister's dishonest approach, the classic ad man tactic: playing political games rather than developing policies to tackle the important issues for the future. No wonder the broader community are saying our Prime Minister is nothing more than an ad man with no plan.

On this side of the House we agree that active and engaged participation in multilateral institutions, including multilateral development institutions, is absolutely essential for advancing Australia's interest in a stable, secure and prosperous international environment and that the Prime Minister's recent public attacks on global institutions are contrary to Australia's interest in an international, rules based order supported by multilateral institutions which promote economic growth, global security and human development.

I want to remind the Prime Minister and those opposite what our contributions to these multilateral institutions achieve on a global scale. Take, for example, the International Development Association, which is principally mentioned in this bill. Over the past decade, IDA financing has immunised 330 million children, provided access to better water services for 96½ million people, provided essential health services to 769 million people and recruited or trained more than 14 million teachers. So, when the Prime Minister takes pot shots at institutions like this, it's not leadership; it's cheap political pointscoring from an ad man.

Our international development programs and our participation in multilateral development institutions are an expression of our values as Australians. That's why Labor supports the bill today. By reducing economic disadvantage, we tackle the root causes of instability and insecurity. This will not only improve the welfare of people in developing countries but also improve our own security.

Since being elected to this place, I've had the absolute privilege and honour of visiting the Pacific. As I mentioned earlier in my remarks today, I have visited the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Tonga and Fiji. I did that because I wanted to have a deeper understanding of the residents that I represent. Over 60,000 people in the Oxley electorate were born in different countries, making it one of the most multicultural electorates in Australia. When I've met with Pacific islander leaders in my community, they've expressed to me their deep attachment and connection to their home countries. I feel that as well after visiting those countries, although briefly.

Supporting international development is squarely in Australia's interest, but fighting global poverty is also the right thing to do, as the Christian leaders reminded me in my office this week. Helping the world's most disadvantaged people is an expression of Australian values. We are a country committed to a fair go and to helping the vulnerable and the disadvantaged, both at home and abroad. I commend this bill to the House and, once again, call on the government to continue with these initiatives so that we may truly be a team player on the global stage.

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