Lee Rhiannon (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

To move:

That the Senate—

  (a)   notes that:

     (i)   the United Nations (UN) target to reduce global poverty and provide sufficient resources to meet the Millennium Development Goals is that rich countries should devote 0.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI) to overseas aid,

     (ii)   the Gillard Government has committed to increase overseas development assistance (ODA) to 0.5 per cent of GNI by 2015,

     (iii)   on 21 June 2010 at a Micah Challenge event at Parliament House, the Leader of the Opposition Mr Abbott committed the Coalition to increase ODA to 0.5 per cent of GNI by 2015, stating 'I want to make it very clear that the goal of 0.5 per cent of national income in overseas development aid is a bipartisan one',

     (iv)   the commitment to increase Australia's ODA to 0.5 per cent of GNI by 2015 still lags behind many other developed nations, including Britain, Ireland, Spain, Germany and France, and

     (v)   the funding for overseas aid should be protected from any budget cuts between now and 2015; and

  (b)   reaffirms a bipartisan commitment to increase the ODA budget to at least 0.5 per cent of GNI by 2015.