Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1)

notes:

(a)

the pledge, first made by Australia in the year 2000, to spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion are currently subjected;

(b)

that with only five years until the international goals to address extreme poverty are due, there is now an urgent need to recommit ourselves to this task; and

(c)

that our actions of the past 20 years have already succeeded in halving rates of extreme poverty, and within a generation we can and will make poverty history; and

(2)

welcomes the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign to ensure that we do our fair share to achieve all the Millennium Development Goals.

Recently the Australian parliament hosted the Make Poverty History Road Trip, whereby our young Australians from cities across Australia came to Canberra, where they were welcomed by one of the largest gatherings of parliamentarians I have seen during my time as a member of parliament. There was a series of addresses, including a welcoming address by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Stephen Smith. The strong presence of MPs at that function denotes just how important the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals are to this parliament. In particular, it also reflects the amazing work done by the Make Poverty History campaign.

I have had a longstanding commitment to the global campaign to end poverty and I fondly recall being permitted or allowed—or rather tolerated—by former Speaker Neil Andrew to sit in the chamber with a T-shirt on which was printed with the words ‘Make Poverty History’. I want to take this opportunity to thank former Speaker Andrew for his tolerance, as we all know that T-shirts with slogans are outside the standing orders. He recognised, as I am sure you do, Mr Deputy Speaker, the importance of having to convey such messages in ever-creative ways in this chamber.

This is an issue which is important to me and my work because my social and political commitment to justice, in all its forms, is the objective that continues to drive my own passion for politics. The reality is that these forms of justice cannot be achieved when extreme poverty continues to hold down generation after generation of people across the globe. My commitment—and no doubt this parliament’s commitment—to advancing policies and ideas that will help us achieve our Millennium Development Goals is on the public record, and I will continue to work, as I am sure my colleagues will, towards helping ensure that we all do our fair share to achieve these goals.

It is encouraging to see that the Make Poverty History movement in Australia and around the world has not been just a fad, built around a Live Aid concert or a one-off charity event, but has become an ongoing and systematic campaign which is helping translate its objectives into the policies of government. Through such campaigns, spearheaded by an army of young Australians such as those we witnessed during parliament some weeks ago, we have seen the rates of extreme poverty decrease considerably. We can also be proud of our aid efforts in the Pacific, which have assisted in wiping out the crippling effects of polio in our region.

I was pleased that the most recent federal budget included a commitment to increasing the level of development and humanitarian assistance to the tune of half a billion dollars. This increase is important because it recognises that as we move beyond the current global economic environment we do not leave behind the world’s most vulnerable people. In recognising the importance of these additional funds, which build on previous increases of similar magnitude, I would like to note —and I am sure I am not alone in this—that Australia can do more to help better achieve the goals to which it has committed itself.

This recognition is important because it is not a campaign about charity, but one of justice. It is about our responsibilities. We, in benefiting from the global economic system from which the poorest of the world suffer, owe it to them to help them lift their standards of living so that the egalitarian values that drive our own development can be reflected across the globe. So, while each of us in this House has our own special social, political and economic visions of the world which we would like to see for the future, I think we need to recognise a certain reality.

Imagine for a moment a world where one per cent of humanity controls 40 per cent of wealth. Imagine a world where one financial institution alone is provided with enough money that could have gone towards eliminating malnutrition in the world, enough money to provide education for every child, enough money for water and sanitation for all, and indeed enough money to reverse the spread of fatal diseases. Imagine a world where a campaign against war includes a level of funding so that, instead of the blood, sweat and tears of vulnerable children, men and women, it could all be used to feed some of the very children who die from wars.

That world is our world. We must imagine the possibilities of a different world and create it and, in making history, we need to make poverty history. I want to commend the work of all those involved in the Make Poverty History Road Trip, and I hope that this road one day leads us to a more inclusive world free from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of our fellow men, women and children are currently subjected.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I offer my thanks and congratulations to the member for Calwell for her motion today. The abject and dehumanising impact of poverty on more than a billion fellow souls—that is what this motion is about. That is what we, as a parliament and as people who are part of a broader global community, recognise and focus upon. We know that of all the people who have lived throughout history in all of the different societies we are amongst the most fortunate. We are amongst those who live with a rare standard of living. It has been our fortune and our blessing to live in this place in these times. By comparison, the reality of economic life for the vast majority of people throughout the vast majority of history has been cruel and crushing. There has been great joy amidst that process but the nature of economic life and physical life has been crushing for so many people for so much of history.

What we are witnessing at this moment, however, is the fastest movement at any time in humanity’s course of people from poverty to economic circumstances which are far preferable. That is something which is welcome, but it is a rate of progress which is nevertheless too slow, which is nevertheless not what we seek to achieve, which is nevertheless still going to fall short of the Millennium Development Goals to which Australia first committed itself, on a bipartisan basis, in 2000. These goals—although in part they have been met, although in part they have been progressed—remain as relevant today as ever before. Whether it is education, health, access to clean water, women’s rights or the economic opportunity for people to make something of their own lives, to give themselves the best shot at the life of their choice, the tasks are real, germane and present.

I am proud to have been part of the previous coalition government, to have played a very small role, as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, in the aid program and to have witnessed programs such as the Indonesia reconstruction program—the creation and development of thousands of schools to help people in Indonesia have the opportunity to read and write, to engage in economic activity, to be part of that world which benefits from having education—clean water programs in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and education programs for women in the Philippines. All these things are good things. Many of these things have been continued by the current government. We will have our points of disagreement over specific programs or quantum or effectiveness, but the direction, the heft, the weight, of history is about Australia as a country contributing to the achievement and improvement of the Millennium Development Goals. These are profound human tasks and responsibilities.

I come back to where I began. We are amongst the very fortunate few in all of history. So many people for so much time have lived in such abject poverty that to live as we do, with all the accoutrements of the modern age—whether it is lighting, refrigeration, hygiene or any of these things—means it is our task, our duty, our responsibility, to do all that we can to provide a way forward for others. There is a paradox, of course, in that development on a grand scale in China, India, Indonesia and Russia brings with it the challenge of emissions. The paradox of development and global environmental impacts is one that we must resolve as a society and as a globe.

I commend the member for Calwell for this motion. It is important. It is important that this parliament can debate it in a bipartisan way but it is important that we step beyond this parliament and that we remember the people of Africa, Asia, Latin America and parts of the Middle East who live in abject poverty, who do not have that to which we have become accustomed and that with which we are blessed. (Time expired)

Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I speak in support of this motion that calls on Australia to make poverty history and to recommit ourselves as a nation to this urgent task. In the few minutes that I have it is impossible to relate to all eight Millennium Development Goals, so I will only concentrate on MDGs 1 and 4.

Goal 1 is the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, with targets of halving, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 per day and, in the same time frame, halving the number of people who suffer from hunger, along with achieving full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people. We need to do more and quickly, with 1.4 billion people still in extreme poverty and just five years to go to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. More than three million people continue to live in extreme poverty in the Pacific region.

Goal 4 is the reduction of child mortality, with a target of reducing by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the mortality rate of children under the age of five. In 1997, more than 12.6 million young children died from largely preventable or treatable causes. In 2008, that figure was still around 8.8 million, eight years after the Millennium Development Goals were set. Eighteen of the 29 developing countries in the region are not on track to achieve goal 4, which is reducing child mortality by two-thirds.

I think that one of the biggest problems confronting the global community is the lack of awareness by people who live in wealthy countries of the real and constant daily issues and effects of poverty in developing countries across the globe. That is why the work of organisations like TEAR, Micah Challenge, Make Poverty History and other campaigns by community groups who operate in the sector are so important. With local events, there is the opportunity to speak to people firsthand and to bring their feedback and ideas to this place.

Last Saturday, 29 May, I attended an MDG related forum with the Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan—who I note is here tonight—at TEAR Australia’s ‘Survive Past Five’ fifth birthday party, in Nunawading, to talk about progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, in particular MDG 4. After games for the children and speeches for the adults, we got to blow out the candles and cut the fifth birthday cake, which symbolised all of those children in the world who did not survive until their fifth birthday. Also I was presented with this wonderful chain of cardboard cut-out children, which is very nice—there are actually 90 of them there that they put together for me—to bring to this place to show people that locals actually care about the subject as well. Of course, there are much larger events than those that happen locally, but it is good that they do happen locally and that people get out there and get the message across. Last September, Micah Challenge held their fifth birthday party here in Parliament House, with that giant card.

As everyone knows, Australia is still a long way from meeting its goal of contributing 0.7 per cent of our gross national income to official development assistance so that we can meet the MDGs. This year’s budget predicts that our percentage will be 0.33 per cent of GNI, which translates to around $4.39 billion. Just imagine what could be done if we doubled that. The Rudd government has so far increased by nearly $1.2 billion Australia’s ODA from the $3.17 billion that we inherited in the last Howard budget of 2007-08. But it was only as recently as 1984 that the Hawke Labor government was funding ODA at the rate of 0.44 per cent. What happened after that? The rate dropped. It was not only under coalition governments; it also dropped under previous Labor governments. It is on its way back up now, and that is a good thing, but it is going to take a lot of work for Australia ever to get to the 0.7 per cent. I will continue to advocate for greater funding to meet Australia’s commitment to meeting the MDGs, and I thank the member for Calwell for moving this motion in the House.

Debate interrupted.