Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, in writing, on 28 October 2014:

(1) Is she aware (a) that in 2015 the United Nations is scheduled to announce the Sustainable Development Goals, a set of international objectives to improve global well-being, and (b) that the French Government's 2008 Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress concluded that GDP is dangerously inadequate as a measure of quality of life, and (c) of 'The Future We Want', the declaration of the 2012 Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development agreed to by all United Nations Member States, which reached the same conclusion.

(2) What action is the Australian Government taking to assist in (a) the development of the Sustainable Development Goals, and (b) providing broader indicators of social performance than GDP.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(1) (a) Yes.

(b) Yes.

(c) Yes.

(2) (a) See departmental response to Question on Notice 472 of Budget Estimates 2014 15.

(b) The Australian Government is committed to the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include a range of indicators of social performance in poverty, education, health and gender equality, as well as economic indicators.