Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to talk about a fantastic school in my electorate, Elanora State High School. Just a few weeks ago I presented the school with a new flag and I had the opportunity to speak with students and staff. Elanora High's motto is 'Aim to excel' and there certainly is a very positive atmosphere and culture at the school, where students are supported and encouraged to be their best.

A feature of Elanora High is the strong chaplaincy program. Chaplaincy is a partnership between the school and the chaplain, supported by local churches, businesses and community organisations, which provides a network of local support and assistance to the school community. Elanora has two chaplains, and I give them a big shout-out today. They run positive, fun activities for the students both in and out of school.

Some sections of the media have certainly struggled to understand the concept and the value of the chaplaincy program in schools. I can tell you that school communities certainly have not had such difficulties. They have a deep understanding of the value of the program, especially in reaching out to young people who may be experiencing difficulties. As the Elanora High website explains:

A school chaplain is a safe person for young people to connect with at school, providing a listening ear, caring presence and a message of hope.

…   …   …

This includes support for at-risk students, support for staff and families from the wider school community, and spiritual support and direction for the school community.

Elanora High is today running a free-dress day to raise funds for their chaplaincy program. I commend the students on their enterprise, which reflects the value they place on the work that Dave and Stephanie do. I am certain that many of my colleagues in this place have similar positive examples in their electorates, and I take time today to thank the many fantastic people working in chaplaincy programs in schools in my electorate and throughout the country. To Elanora High I say: congratulations to you on the great work that you have been doing and I hope you are having a fantastic time at your free-dress day today.

Yesterday and today I have been wearing the scarf of the Australian Diamonds netball team, our world champions, and I will do that with pride as I continue to support the Australian Diamonds and all of the sporting community organisations in my electorate of McPherson on the southern Gold Coast.

Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It being just on 10 o'clock, if no member objects to the three-minute constituency statements being extended, I will take that course of action.

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

I had the pleasure yesterday of meeting with one of my constituents, Josh Morgan, who is doing outstanding work as a volunteer with RESULTS, as well as Murray Proctor, who is a global health consultant for RESULTS International (Australia). They are a movement of passionate committed everyday people and an active member of the Australian Council for International Development and the Campaign for Australian Aid, working internationally with RESULTS counterparts in the ACTION Global Health Advocacy Partnership on improving access to health, education and economic opportunity.

From 25 to 27 September, leaders are gathering to endorse the sustainable development goals, or global goals, which the UN development program calls:

A historic pledge to end poverty. Everywhere. Permanently.

They say we cannot achieve sustainable development goal 3, which ensures healthy lives and promotes wellbeing for all at all ages, without increased access to vaccines against preventable diseases and treatments of epidemics like HIV, TB and malaria amongst the poorest and most remote people in the world, including in our region. They have urged that funding for the aid program be reinstated to 0.3 per cent of GNI by 2018-19. I support this. I think that aid cuts are foolish. In fact, they proved to be one of the drivers of the regrettable flight of asylum seekers from refugee camps to Europe that we are seeing now. I think that we need to have an aid budget that reflects our commitment to people in need abroad.

RESULTS has also expressed the opinion that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, in its current form, has the potential to disadvantage the least developed countries in our region by reducing access to affordable medicines and vaccines. They believe that the Trans-Pacific Partnership has the potential to reduce the impact of Australia's aid investment in the region, both bilaterally and multilaterally. I want to indicate that I share their concern about evergreening, patent abuse, special exclusivity, data exclusivity and patent linkage as well as investor-state dispute settlement issues in current and future trade deals. I call on the foreign minister to publicly state the government's position regarding the impact of these on the effectiveness of Australian aid dollars.

Yesterday, I also had the pleasure of meeting with Alan Kirkland, the Choice CEO, as well as public health expert Dr Deborah Gleeson of Latrobe University, who expressed similar concerns about the impact of the TPP on the extension of biologics. (Time expired)