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A new strategy launched today will help poor people improve their way of life through increased access to crucial financial services, increasingly being seen as important to reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The Australian Government's Financial Services for the Poor: A strategy for the Australian aid program 2010-15 was launched today by Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Mr Bob McMullan.

'As many as 2.7 billion adults in developing countries, or almost three-quarters of the adult population, still do not have access to financial services, such as savings, credit, payment services and insurance,' Mr McMullan said.

'Their inability to borrow or save money safely makes finding a way out of poverty more difficult and makes them more vulnerable when adversity hits.

'Financial services give poor people, especially women, opportunities to set up small businesses, insure against crop losses and save in case of illness or disaster. This has the potential to transform their lives.'

The Australian aid program has been spending an average of $10 million a year since 2004 to improve poor people's access to financial services and this will increase to up to $20 million a year by 2012-13.

Australia will assist formal and informal financial institutions to offer quality, affordable and fair financial services to the poor, including through microfinance and new technologies such as mobile phone banking.

Financial literacy programs will help clients understand the available services and make informed decisions so they can take advantage of financial opportunities and plan for the future.

Governments will be assisted to create a policy and regulatory environment that helps expand financial services while protecting consumers.

The Financial Services for the Poor: A strategy for the Australian aid program 2010-15 can be accessed at www.ausaid.gov.au.

(Check Against Delivery)
Acknowledgements

Thank you all for coming tonight to this discussion on ‘the power of small’.

I would like to extend a special welcome to Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Professor Yunus is in Australia at the invitation of Business for Millennium Development – an organisation that encourages the business sector to reduce poverty while doing business with the emerging markets of Asia and the Pacific.

Thank you for making time to come to Canberra.

In a moment I will hand over to Professor Yunus.

But first I’d like to set the scene for this discussion and then to launch the Australian aid program’s new ‘financial services for the poor’ strategy.

Over the past twenty years poverty levels in the Asia Pacific region have fallen dramatically.

In 1990 almost half the people in the region lived in extreme poverty.

Now it’s one-quarter – some 950 million people. This is still is a huge number, but a big drop nonetheless.

There are many reasons for the reduction but economic growth and a strong private sector have been critical.
Business creates employment and stimulates economic growth.

But in order to set up a business, you need access to basic financial services.

At present, about 2.7 billion adults in developing countries don’t have this access.

If they are subsistence farmers who sell surplus produce for a bit of extra cash, they don’t have the assets that banks require to lend them money.

Women are often not given loans because of rules and regulations that discriminate against them on gender grounds.

People with disability find it hard to get anything at all.

Business can directly target the poor in different ways.

It can do it through philanthropy or corporate social responsibility.

Alternatively there is ‘inclusive business’ where the aim is to generate profits and to deliver socially beneficial outcomes.

In this model, steps are taken to deliberately include poor people in the business cycle as employees, suppliers or distributors and as consumers.

Another way in which business can reduce poverty is through what is called ‘social business’.

These are businesses that have social outcomes as their main goal, not profit.

This is what you have come to hear Professor Yunus talk about so I won’t say any more about this.

The fact is that we need to engineer opportunities for those who are economically underprivileged.

One of the ways Australia is doing this it to help poor people in developing countries access financial services.

Through these services, poor people can set up small businesses, insure against crop losses and save in case of illness and disaster.

I am pleased to announce that by 2012-13 Australia will double our spending on financial services.

Our approach is outlined in the new Financial Services for the Poor Strategy, which I have the pleasure of launching right this evening.

The aid program will be working with financial institutions to offer quality, affordable and fair financial services to the poor.

We will be helping governments to create enabling policies and regulatory environments to support the changes needed to serve the interests of poor people.

And we will be providing funding for financial literacy programs to help clients understand their finances so that they can make informed decisions for their future.

This assistance will give people access to opportunities to transform their lives.

Today’s technology makes many things possible. Mobile phones and branchless banking give people in even the most remote areas access to financial services.

In the Pacific for example, Australia is working with a bank in Vanuatu to establish a satellite communications network powered by renewable energy that will bring rural branches online and provide full services to their communities.

Business in general has been a latecomer in efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Yet there is plenty that businesses can do to reduce poverty.

Professor Mohammad Yunus knows better than anyone the power of financial services for poor people and the impact business can have on reducing poverty.

Professor Yunus is a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and is known as a banker to the poor.

In the early 1980s against the advice of just about everyone, he set up Grameen- a bank which gives small loans to the poorest of the poor in Bangladesh.

The bank has a fundamental principle which is that credit is a basic human right and not the privilege of a few.

Grameen now provides micro-loans to more than two million families in Bangladesh.

Most of the loans are taken out by women and repayment rates are very high.

Professor Yunus is now also a strong advocate of ‘social business’.

Social business is cause-driven and its purpose is to achieve a social objective, rather than make personal profit.

Professor Yunus presents a compelling argument for social business as a viable poverty reduction tool.

Please welcome Professor Muhammad Yunus.

ends

Australia will provide $10 million over four years to improve marketing opportunities and boost agribusiness in the Pacific.

The Pacific Agribusiness Research and Development Initiative (PARDI) provides a platform for stronger economic growth of Pacific island countries. The initiative aims to substantially improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji, with expansion into Tonga, Samoa and Kiribati.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan made this announcement today at the Pacific Conference on the Human Face of the Global Economic Crisis being held in Vanuatu.

'The Pacific faces a number of challenges if it is to meet the Millennium Development Goals, particularly given the impacts of the global food crisis and more recent recession,' Mr McMullan said.

'This initiative makes it easier for farmers in the Pacific to get their products to markets. It enables them to be competitive players in the region, whilst ensuring their businesses are sustainable,' Mr McMullan said.

'The initiative incorporates commodity, supply chain, marketing and capacity-building initiatives to give farmers the skills and knowledge to enable Pacific agribusinesses to grow.'

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) initiative will be delivered through a partnership of Australian and Pacific island agencies including the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, the University of the South Pacific, national agricultural, forestry and marine departments in each country and National Agricultural Research Systems. Australian partners are the University of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (Queensland), the University of Adelaide, University of the Sunshine Coast, James Cook University and Rural Solutions, SA.

Part of the Australian Government's international development assistance program, ACIAR helps identify problems and opportunities in developing countries, and commissions collaborative agricultural research between Australian and developing country researchers in fields where Australia has a special research competence. Visit www.aciar.gov.au

Australia is sending an initial shipment of emergency supplies to Santiago de Chile, on the next LAC Chile flight out of Sydney, currently scheduled for Saturday 6 March 2010.

The emergency supplies include 50 generators, 150 family tents and 1,060 collapsible field beds, all requested by the Government of Chile.

The supplies will arrive in Santiago and then be transported to the worst-affected areas around the city of Concepcion to provide temporary housing and power.

On 2 March 2010 the Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith announced an initial contribution of $1 million in emergency assistance and a further $4 million in reconstruction assistance to Chile after the devastating 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck on 27 February 2010.

The most recent situation reports indicate at least 2 million people affected, 500,000 homes destroyed and 802 deaths, with this figure still expected to rise.

Australia has also offered a team of structural engineers to support the Chilean Government to carry out damage assessments on public buildings and infrastructure affected by the earthquake, if required.

The priority at this stage is emergency assistance. We will continue to coordinate our efforts with the Chilean authorities, the United Nations and other Latin American countries.

PROOF ONLY

Subject: Australian support for the Global Fund, PNG’s application for Global Fund support, aid to Africa, Pacific Seasonal Worker’s Program

Donald: Mr McMullan, will Australia increase its contribution to the Global Fund in the next round?

McMullan: Well it still is a budget matter, there’s still a bit of discussion but we’re very positive about the role of the Global Fund and I told Professor Kazatchkine that he can rely on Australia as a strong supporter of the fund in the future.

Donald: So it is good enough for Australia to remain as the number sixteen donor or do you think Australia should do better?

McMullan: Well you’d expect him to say that wouldn’t you, and we will be strong supporters. We think the Global Fund is important, we want to see some reforms, but the Professor is in the process of implementing those and we expect to continue to be strong supporters of the Fund. It does important work globally and in our region.

Donald: How much more would you like Australia to be able to contribute, obviously you’ve got this commitment to increase our aid budget...

McMullan:...Even in a rapidly increasing aid environment, and that is where Australia is at the moment, you’ve still got to make choices. Every extra dollar we give to the global fund is a dollar we can’t give to some other important project. So it’s a hard balance to strike but we will do more there, it is an important organisation and we will stay active on its board and as a contributor.

Donald: [Professor Kazatchkine] had some things to say about aids in PNG. Obviously PNG’s application failed to be Global Fund last time around, the Global Fund wasn’t convinced it had the systems and the abilities to put a good program in place, what is Australia going to do to make sure PNG is more successful next time around?

McMullan: What we don’t want is to see the Global Fund reduce the rigor with which it scrutinises applications, even though it causes some difficulty in PNG it’s a good thing because it lifts the standard of what the systems and programs are like. So we are working with the Global Fund and the Government of PNG to lift the standard of their application, what is called a Round Eleven application, and the principle responsibility is with the Government of PNG, they are putting more resources in and we’re helping.

Donald: So AusAID has got officers there helping on the financials?

McMullan: Well the Australian Government has got some advisors, but it’s being led by the Government of PNG and they’re putting more resources in which is good. We’re pretty optimistic and you should know that we’ve already got that there will be what’s called a ‘Continuity of Service’ operation so people won’t lose their treatment but we need it to grow. That will need a new agreement and that’s where we are providing some assistance to the Government of PNG now.

Donald: So how confident are you that their application will be successful next time around.

McMullan: Well optimistic. We support the Fund being rigorous and not supporting applications that can’t guarantee to deliver value for money. We think we can get sufficient support for the Government of PNG with its leadership to deliver a value for money proposition but we haven’t got there yet.

Donald: On another issue, Australia has almost doubled its aid to Africa since Labor came to office, is this because Australia wants a seat on the UNSC.

McMullan: Absolutely not. I was involved in the first discussion with Kevin Rudd, when he was Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, about how we would increase our aid to Africa long before anybody was talking about a UNSC bid. It’s because if you care about the MDGs, if you care about global poverty, if you care about people who don’t have enough to eat, you have to focus on Africa. And we won’t ever be a big player in Africa but we have an interest and a responsibility to be more actively engaged, we will go on increasing our aid to Africa up to and beyond any decision about whether we get elected to the UNSC. This will not stop in 2012, we have a commitment to continue to increase this support.

Donald: But is there a risk that Australia is spreading itself too thin by giving a little bit to Africa, a little bit here and there?

McMullan: We have to be careful about the effective management of it but my view is no, we’re not spreading ourselves too thin. We will be predominately an Asia-Pacific contributor, this is our strength, but we’ll try and work cooperatively. For example the big water initiative we are taking we’re doing jointly with the African Development Bank and the World Bank. The initiatives we are taking about food there we are doing cooperatively with some of the big international agricultural research agencies. We are working with already established efficient donors and we think we can do it efficiently and effectively as long as we don’t try and grow it too quickly.

Donald: It is multilateral aid in a way, it’s not bilateral?

McMullan: Well, for example, on a water project in Malawi we’re talking directly with the Government of Malawi but it is a triangular relationship with us, the Goverment of Malawi and the African Development Bank, and so far it is working in the interests of all three.

Donald: Just finally with the Pacific Workers Scheme, where is it at? There’s been some talk of PNG considering an MOU for 650 workers, are they coming or what’s happening?

McMullan: Two things are happening. One is the second round of workers have started to come in for this picking year, and the best thing is we’re starting to see some repeat workers, 20 workers from Tonga who came picking almonds in Robinvale have been invited back again by the same employer to do the same job, which is exactly what we want. The trial is starting to pick up a bit of momentum. We’ve always said from day one that PNG would be part of it and some of the potential is set aside for PNG, but they don’t have a background of sending workers like this and so we are having to do a bit more bureaucratic work to building it up. But we do expect in the course of this year or next workers to start coming from PNG.

-ends-

Donald: Mr McMullan, will Australia increase its contribution to the Global Fund in the next round?

McMullan: Well it still is a budget matter, there’s still a bit of discussion but we’re very positive about the role of  the Global Fund and I told Professor Kazatchkine that he can rely on Australia as a strong supporter of the fund in the future.

Donald: So it is good enough for Australia to remain as the number sixteen donor or do you think Australia should do better?

McMullan: Well you’d expect him to say that wouldn’t you, and we will be strong supporters. We think the Global Fund is important, we want to see some reforms, but the Professor is in the process of implementing those and we expect to continue to be strong supporters of the Fund. It does important work globally and in our region.

Donald: How much more would you like Australia to be able to contribute, obviously you’ve got this commitment to increase our aid budget...

McMullan:...Even in a rapidly increasing aid environment, and that is where Australia is at the moment, you’ve still got to make choices. Every extra dollar we give to the global fund is a dollar we can’t give to some other important project. So it’s a hard balance to strike but we will do more there, it is an important organisation and we will stay active on its board and as a contributor.

Donald: [Professor Kazatchkine] had some things to say about aids in PNG. Obviously PNG’s application failed to be Global Fund last time around, the Global Fund wasn’t convinced it had the systems and the abilities to put a good program in place, what is Australia going to do to make sure PNG is more successful next time around?

McMullan: What we don’t want is to see the Global Fund reduce the rigor with which it scrutinises applications, even though it causes some difficulty in PNG it’s a good thing because it lifts the standard of what the systems and programs are like. So we are working with the Global Fund and the Government of PNG to lift the standard of their application, what is called a Round Eleven application, and the principle responsibility is with the Government of PNG, they are putting more resources in and we’re helping.

Donald: So AusAID has got officers there helping on the financials?

McMullan: Well the Australian Government has got some advisors, but it’s being led by the Government of PNG and they’re putting more resources in which is good. We’re pretty optimistic and you should know that we’ve already got that there will be what’s called a ‘Continuity of Service’ operation so people won’t lose their treatment but we need it to grow. That will need a new agreement and that’s where we are providing some assistance to the Government of PNG now.

Donald: So how confident are you that their application will be successful next time around.

McMullan: Well optimistic. We support the Fund being rigorous and not supporting applications that can’t guarantee to deliver value for money. We think we can get sufficient support for the Government of PNG with its leadership to deliver a value for money proposition but we haven’t got there yet.

Donald: On another issue, Australia has almost doubled its aid to Africa since Labor came to office, is this because Australia wants a seat on the UNSC.

McMullan: Absolutely not. I was involved in the first discussion with Kevin Rudd, when he was Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, about how we would increase our aid to Africa long before anybody was talking about a UNSC bid. It’s because if you care about the MDGs, if you care about global poverty, if you care about people who don’t have enough to eat, you have to focus on Africa. And we won’t ever be a big player in Africa but we have an interest and a responsibility to be more actively engaged, we will go on increasing our aid to Africa up to and beyond any decision about whether we get elected to the UNSC. This will not stop in 2012, we have a commitment to continue to increase this support.

Donald: But is there a risk that Australia is spreading itself too thin by giving a little bit to Africa, a little bit here and there?

McMullan: We have to be careful about the effective management of it but my view is no, we’re not spreading ourselves too thin. We will be predominately an Asia-Pacific contributor, this is our strength, but we’ll try and work cooperatively. For example the big water initiative we are taking we’re doing jointly with the African Development Bank and the World Bank. The initiatives we are taking about food there we are doing cooperatively with some of the big international agricultural research agencies. We are working with already established efficient donors and we think we can do it efficiently and effectively as long as we don’t try and grow it too quickly.

Donald: It is multilateral aid in a way, it’s not bilateral?

McMullan: Well, for example, on a water project in Malawi we’re talking directly with the Government of Malawi but it is a triangular relationship with us, the Goverment of Malawi and the African Development Bank, and so far it is working in the interests of all three.

Donald: Just finally with the Pacific Workers Scheme, where is it at? There’s been some talk of PNG considering an MOU for 650 workers, are they coming or what’s happening?

McMullan: Two things are happening. One is the second round of workers have started to come in for this picking year, and the best thing is we’re starting to see some repeat workers, 20 workers from Tonga who came picking almonds in Robinvale have been invited back again by the same employer to do the same job, which is exactly what we want. The trial is starting to pick up a bit of momentum. We’ve always said from day one that PNG would be part of it and some of the potential is set aside for PNG, but they don’t have a background of sending workers like this and so we are having to do a bit more bureaucratic work to building it up. But we do expect in the course of this year or next workers to start coming from PNG.

-ends-

Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, today chaired the third meeting of the International Pro Bono Advisory Group.

The Advisory Group was established by the Attorney-General and the Minister for Foreign Affairs in July last year to promote international pro bono work by Australia’s legal profession and identify linkages with the Government’s international development assistance programs.

The Group brings together a range of private sector lawyers, Government and non-government agencies (NGOs) with expertise in international pro bono and development assistance work.

“Australian lawyers have a significant role to play in promoting the rule of law in our region and the work of the Advisory Group will be crucial in achieving this,” Mr McClelland said.

The Advisory Group agreed to focus on three key priorities to promote and enhance international pro bono work:

publicising international pro bono opportunities to the Australian legal community;
supporting practitioners interested in international pro bono work; and
promoting links between international pro bono providers, governments and NGOs.

To achieve these priorities, the Advisory Group agreed on a number of key actions to better target and coordinate international pro bono work, including:

·      developing fact sheets on key issues and ‘lessons learnt’ templates to report on international pro bono projects;

·      creating a website portal to provide reference resources and links to brokers and clearing houses providing details of pro bono opportunities; and

·      disseminating relevant information and ‘showcasing’ successful international pro bono projects through law societies and bar councils.

The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) will inform the Advisory Group about development assistance priorities and programs that are relevant to international legal assistance in order to identify:

·      the legal needs in developing countries within the region and which countries are seeking pro bono legal support;

·      which legal needs and countries to prioritise; and

·      other legal sector assistance providers in partner countries.

The Government commended the legal profession for its active and ongoing involvement in international pro bono work, including firms represented on the Advisory Group that are undertaking projects to assist the development of non government organisations in Indonesia and Kenya on issues such as fraud prevention, governance and HIV discrimination.

“I commend the Advisory Group for its support of Australia’s international development goals and look forward to its future efforts in further facilitating this important work,” Mr McMullan said.

The Advisory Group also welcomed the Government’s decision to hold an International Pro Bono Roundtable to coincide with the 3rd National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference in August this year. 

A copy of the strategy paper is attached and available on the Attorney-General’s Department website at http://www.ag.gov.au/internationalprobono

18 February 2010

PROOF ONLY

Subject:        Technical assistance in PNG, PNG Treaty Review

Journalist: Well Bob, there’s a story this morning about what would seem to ordinary Australians an extraordinary amount of money being (inaudible) in PNG, is that a realistic representation of what people are getting?

McMullan: No it's not, what it is is the cost to the taxpayers of the contractor providing that service. It means the cost of transporting the person there, the additional cost of  moving furniture, moving their family. I don’t know and can’t say the proportion of it in this particular case but in general, salaries are about half of packages of that sort. So whether this is the case in this occasion is not something I actually know or could disclose because it’s the private business of the people concerned, but it tends to be about half. Because there are all sorts of other costs which the Government or any private employer has with employing someone in another country, particularly a third world country.

Journalist: What are some of those costs?

McMullan: Well, the first and most obvious one is the cost of getting the person there, of accommodating them there, if they have family the cost of their children getting educated in English, because not all of the schools in all the developing countries we work in operate in the English language. Sometimes in some countries, including in PNG, they need extra costs to do with security. The on costs are very large.

Journalist: Are we getting value for money in your view though? Because in PNG for example, where law and order program is a big part of the aid program, we’re seeing a declining situation in law and order over a considerable period of time.

McMullan: Well I think we’re getting value for money and we’re pretty rigorous about the contracting and tendering process, but you’ve got to remember this contractor isn’t the person on the streets conducting the law and order, that’s the police force of Papua New Guinea. Our advisors just do that, they provide technical expertise that otherwise wouldn’t exist. We only provide technical advisors that the Government of PNG asks for, we don’t go up there and say ‘here’s a suite of advisors would you like to take them?’ we respond to their requests. But it’s the right question, we have to be rigorous about making sure that the money, and it is a large amount of money, whether it’s salary or anything else, is delivering results. We do independent assessments of these, rigorous internal assessments, and on balance the program is working well and efficiently and that’s what the Auditor-General found. But it is a process that needs constantly developed scrutiny to make sure we’re getting the right results at the right costs.

Journalist: But the Auditor-General also said that you were relying too heavily on technical assistance?

McMullan: Well I think the Auditor-General correctly said the rate of growth of the aid program is putting AusAID under stress, and it is. That’s why it can’t grow any faster than it is. Some people outside would like us to increase the aid budget more, some would like us to increase it less. For those who would like us to increase it more that’s a problem: the management stress of dealing with an increased program. We operate in an area there’s a high request rate for technical assistance, it’s often what the governments are looking for, and it has always been a large proportion of our aid program because of the character of the countries we work in. We pay a higher percentage of our aid to what’s called ‘fragile states’ than any other donor.

Journalist: If we’re seeing, for example, the law and order situation in PNG decline over time, Australia is providing the technical assistance requested, isn’t there a point where you say the technical assistance clearly isn’t working we should be doing something different?

McMullan: I’m not sure that’s right but clearly the law and order situation is a very big development issue in PNG. You can’t say that the advisor there is not making things better but what you’re saying is the result is not good enough for the Government of PNG as a whole. But it’s an independent country, the judgements about how they deal with law and order is something we can give them advice on but they have to do. It’s not our country, it’s their country, and they have to have the independent right to manage it as they choose.

Journalist: Yes but it is Australian money, are the constructs we’re working in right? For example, capacity building – some experts in this area say that’s way too inexact a concept and that that’s part of the problem.

McMullan: I think we do have to continually refine and be more rigorous in how we spend the money, how we measure whether it has been successful and technical assistance is notoriously hard in that and we are trying to move the balance of our funding away from technical assistance towards other areas of activity. That’s what the PNG Prime Minister said he wants, that’s what our Prime Minister said he wants, so that is the trend. But we can’t just cut it off like *that*, a lot of this advice is fitting with the longer terms programs and it won’t we reduced to zero because we do in other countries what those countries ask us to do essentially, but sometimes, often, the ask for technical assistance.

Journalist: Is that a subject of the review that is currently in play?

McMullan: Well, the review of the [PNG] Treaty is more comprehensive than that but I expect as a result of the partnership for development we entered into, the regular dialogue we have through the Ministerial Forum and the review of the Treaty that this question of the balance of technical assistance will change. I think it will change over time, the Treaty is at a higher level of principle, but I think over time you will see the proportion that’s going to PNG that is provided as technical assistance will decline, I think it should and I think it will, but it won’t be dramatic. It won’t go from the percentage it is now to zero, it will decline slowly.

Journalist: What percentage is it now?

McMullan: It is about half but it’s difficult to be exact because sometimes there’s technical assistance inside a bigger program that’s doing ten things, of which technical assistance is a part, so the measurement is not perfect, but it’s about half.

Journalist: And if we’re not giving money to technical assistance what are the other alternatives?

McMullan: Well we do a lot of things through Australian NGOs and churches operating there who provide services, we provide assistance to the PNG health system, the PNG education system, there’s a whole lot of direct and indirect assistance we provide through the Government of PNG to strengthen the way their health system or their education system works. We’ve always said education is the flagship of this Government’s aid program. The two Prime Ministers have agreed we’re going to make a big focus on increasing the proportion of children getting in to and completing primary school. It is the most effective investment you can make.

Journalist: Obviously the focus today is on PNG, but is this a similar situation in places like the Solomons where we’re also delivering these kinds of programs, are people being paid these large amounts to have to function in these countries?

McMullan: In every country where we provide technical assistance we provide it on a tender basis but it’s an expensive thing to do, to locate an expert out of country. If the expertise was in the country, they wouldn’t need to approach us about it, so to bring people, whether its from our country or any other, to a third country, particularly a developing country where the cost of living is quite high, is an expensive business. So yes, the same principles apply everywhere, the amounts of money vary.

Journalist: When do you expect the [PNG Treaty] Review to finish?

McMullan: The Review is designed to report ultimately to the Australia/PNG Ministerial Forum which is likely to be in the middle of the year.

-ends-

Australia is providing more than $1.3 million to support the beef industry and increase the incomes of smallholder farmers in Vanuatu.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, has congratulated Vanuatu company Sarami Plantation for their successful bid in round three of Australia’s Enterprise Challenge Fund (ECF) grants scheme.

“The Sarami Plantation initiative will be an excellent model for other Pacific Islands and should lead to a dramatic strengthening not only of the Vanuatu beef industry but also of livestock industries throughout the Pacific region,” Mr McMullan said.

ECF is a $20.5 million program aimed at strengthening the private sector, encouraging economic growth and reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific.

The grants promote access to employment and markets, and encourage the growth of small businesses in developing countries, which is vital to achieving a sustainable reduction in poverty.

This grant will enable smallholder cattle farmers in the rural areas of Santos and surrounding islands to produce more cattle, be able to sell at significantly higher prices and improve their incomes.

“With assistance from ECF, Sarami Plantation will purchase cattle from smallholders at prices up to 50 per cent higher than normal to sell to the local abattoir, which will then sell the beef for a significant profit on international markets, mainly Japan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji,” Mr McMullan said.

Mr McMullan is in Vanuatu to participate in the Pacific Conference on the Human Face of the Global Economic Crisis.

“The ECF grants are just one way we can help improve the economies of Pacific Island countries in the long term, and through them the Australian Government is helping the private sector to play its part in alleviating poverty across our region,” Mr McMullan said.

Australia is providing more than $1.3 million to support the beef industry and increase the incomes of smallholder farmers in Vanuatu.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, has congratulated Vanuatu company Sarami Plantation for their successful bid in round three of Australia’s Enterprise Challenge Fund (ECF) grants scheme.

“The Sarami Plantation initiative will be an excellent model for other Pacific Islands and should lead to a dramatic strengthening not only of the Vanuatu beef industry but also of livestock industries throughout the Pacific region,” Mr McMullan said.

ECF is a $20.5 million program aimed at strengthening the private sector, encouraging economic growth and reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific.

The grants promote access to employment and markets, and encourage the growth of small businesses in developing countries, which is vital to achieving a sustainable reduction in poverty.

This grant will enable smallholder cattle farmers in the rural areas of Santos and surrounding islands to produce more cattle, be able to sell at significantly higher prices and improve their incomes.

“With assistance from ECF, Sarami Plantation will purchase cattle from smallholders at prices up to 50 per cent higher than normal to sell to the local abattoir, which will then sell the beef for a significant profit on international markets, mainly Japan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji,” Mr McMullan said.

Mr McMullan is in Vanuatu to participate in the Pacific Conference on the Human Face of the Global Economic Crisis.

“The ECF grants are just one way we can help improve the economies of Pacific Island countries in the long term, and through them the Australian Government is helping the private sector to play its part in alleviating poverty across our region,” Mr McMullan said.

Australia will provide $10 million over four years to improve marketing opportunities and boost agribusiness in the Pacific.

The Pacific Agribusiness Research and Development Initiative (PARDI) provides a platform for stronger economic growth of Pacific island countries. The initiative aims to substantially improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji, with expansion into Tonga, Samoa and Kiribati.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan made this announcement today at the Pacific Conference on the Human Face of the Global Economic Crisis being held in Vanuatu.

'The Pacific faces a number of challenges if it is to meet the Millennium Development Goals, particularly given the impacts of the global food crisis and more recent recession,' Mr McMullan said.

'This initiative makes it easier for farmers in the Pacific to get their products to markets. It enables them to be competitive players in the region, whilst ensuring their businesses are sustainable,' Mr McMullan said.

'The initiative incorporates commodity, supply chain, marketing and capacity-building initiatives to give farmers the skills and knowledge to enable Pacific agribusinesses to grow.'

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) initiative will be delivered through a partnership of Australian and Pacific island agencies including the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, the University of the South Pacific, national agricultural, forestry and marine departments in each country and National Agricultural Research Systems. Australian partners are the University of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (Queensland), the University of Adelaide, University of the Sunshine Coast, James Cook University and Rural Solutions, SA.

Part of the Australian Government's international development assistance program, ACIAR helps identify problems and opportunities in developing countries, and commissions collaborative agricultural research between Australian and developing country researchers in fields where Australia has a special research competence. Visit www.aciar.gov.au

As the rescue operation in Haiti begins to shift to one of recovery, the global community is now beginning to see the true scale of the disaster which has struck the tiny Carribean nation. Natural disasters such as the Haitian earthquake, the Samoan and Tongan tsunami of last year and the Asian tsunami of 2004 always bring out a truly astounding expression of a shared humanity.

Natural disasters bring poverty to the fore but the fact is extreme poverty is a daily reality for far too many people around the world.

25,000 children will die today from preventable diseases, 900 million people around the world will go to sleep hungry tonight, and tomorrow 1.4billion people will be forced to survive on less than US$1.25 for the day – more than two-thirds of them women and children.

The events of the last eight days have thrown stark light on the crippling poverty of the Haitian people; their plight, even before the earthquake, was a product of their history and geography. President Obama’s promise to the Haitian people that they will not be forsaken and the injection of emergency and long-term aid by the international community will mean Haiti remains on the global radar for years to come.

As the Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, I’m proud of the Australian Government’s response to the crisis in Haiti. To date, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has annouced $15 million in aid for Haiti, comprising $10 million for immediate humanitarian needs and $5 million for long-term reconstruction assistance following UN assessments of the requirements. This complements Australia’s $60 million development assistance package to the CARICOM commnunity of Carribbean nations, annouced in November of 2009, which will include support to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.

As an Australian, I’m equally proud of the generous spirit shown by my fellow citizens toward the people of Haiti. At last count, the various Haitian earthquake charity appeals had received over $4.3 million from everyday Australians. This figure excludes the significant donations made by Australian companies to the appeals.

I’m proud but I’m not surprised by the generous spirit of Australians.

A recent survey conducted by the BBC World Service of 25,000 people from 23 countries ranked extreme poverty as the number one serious issue facing the world, with 71 per cent of those surveyed saying it was the most important issue. Of the 1000 Australians surveyed, 74 per cent ranked extreme poverty as the most serious issue facing the world.

In 2007, the Rudd Labor Government went to the election promising action on global poverty, establishing for the first time in Australian history a commitment to lifting the quality and quantity of Australia’s international development assistance performance to the intermediate UN target of 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income. To put this in context, under the previous government Australia’s overseas development assistance budget stagnated at 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income.

The 2007 election was significant as for the first time in Australian history combating global poverty became an election issue, even if only in a few marginal seats. At meetings around the country Australians showed they wanted a Government committed to taking action on global poverty, not only because it is the right thing to do but also because it is in the national interest.

Although I won’t be contesting this years election, you can be sure I will be calling on all sides of the political divide to make a genuine, bipartisan and lasting committment to tackle global poverty.

Australia will provide $2 million over the next three years for the Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP) to help increase access to financial services among low income, rural and remote households in Pacific Island communities.

PFIP is a Pacific-wide program helping provide sustainable financial services to low income and rural households. It was established in 2008 with funding from the United Nations Capital Development Fund, European Union and the United Nations Development Programme.

The Program works with microfinance institutions and financial service providers to help them deliver better quality services to more people, including the poor, many of whom have not had access to banking before.

Access to microfinance and banking services, including savings and deposit services, credit and loans and insurance services is increasingly being seen as important to reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Greater access to banking services also allows for more cost effective remittance flows to Pacific households from places like Australia and New Zealand.

“I have been impressed with the support provided already through this Program to increase Pacific Islanders’ access to financial services, such as savings, credit and money transfers,” Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance Bob McMullan said.

“Australia’s support for this Program demonstrates our commitment to help broaden access to financial services across the Pacific,” Mr McMullan said.

Australia’s assistance for the Program is consistent with the 2009 Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination in the Pacific, which recognises that private sector-led growth is essential to development progress, and notes that donors should encourage the private sector, including through microfinance.

Depending what you believe, 2010 marks either the end or the beginning of the end of the first decade of the 21st century. The first 10 years of the millennium began with a sickening terrorist attack on the US and ended with a crippling global financial meltdown. Globally and in Australia, we have tackled the challenge of restructuring the economic order to respond to climate change, an issue that will dominate the next decade and beyond and surely define the century.

2010 also marks two-thirds of the way into a remarkable global experiment in ending poverty. In 2000, Australia joined 189 countries in committing to the Millennium Development Goals. These goals aim to halve extreme poverty by 2015 and end it by 2025.

In September this year, the world will meet at the United Nations to renew existing commitments to the Millennium Development Goals and focus on their accomplishment by 2015.

The Millennium Development Goals are a bold statement of the change we want to achieve in the first quarter of the 21st century. They are a practical and measurable score sheet against which we can track our successes and our shortcomings. They require action in both the developed and developing world. They require new thinking and new technology.

But most importantly they require the political, economic and social will to see them through.

In 2007, the Rudd Labor Government went to the election promising action on global poverty, establishing for the first time in Australian history a commitment to lifting the quality and quantity of Australia's international development assistance performance to the intermediate UN target of 0.5 per cent of gross national income. To put this in context, under the previous government Australia's overseas development assistance budget stagnated at 0.3 per cent of GNI. This will mean by 2015 the Rudd Government will have more than doubled Australia's efforts in fighting global poverty.

The 2007 election was significant as for the first time in Australian history combating global poverty became an election issue, albeit a peripheral one. At meetings around the country Australians showed they wanted a government committed to taking action on global poverty, not only because it is the right thing to do but also because it is in the national interest.

In the 2010 election I hope that effective action on global poverty receives truly bipartisan support. Although we are yet to hear the Coalition's policies on international development assistance, I would hope that Opposition Leader Tony Abbot and deputy leader Julie Bishop exhibit the same courage David Cameron's British Conservatives have shown by matching the Rudd Government's strong commitment to international development.

Tackling global poverty must be a bipartisan issue, because the challenges we face are truly significant: 25,000 children will die today from preventable diseases, 900 million people around the world will go to sleep hungry tonight, and tomorrow 1.4 billion people will be forced to survive on less than $US1.25 for the day – more than two-thirds of them women and children.

But we should not overlook the real progress we have made.

Global incidence of extreme poverty is likely to fall from 41.7 per cent in 1990 to 16.9 per cent by 2015, real incomes in the developing world have more than doubled, and child mortality has halved and life expectancy has increased by more than five years.

The global recession has hampered our progress towards the millennium development goals but we should not let it weaken our commitment to them.

It is imperative that we do everything in our power to stop those countries that have made such progress from sliding back into poverty.

It is imperative that we invest in the health and wellbeing of women and children. It is vital that we develop a sustained focus on the rights and opportunities for people with disabilities in developing countries.

It is imperative the countries of the developed world continue to embrace the shared challenge of reducing global poverty while confronting the shared burden of the global financial crisis.

And it is imperative that we all, as citizens, and human beings, demand of our Government a genuine and lasting commitment to reducing global poverty.

Manila, Philippines, 10 December 2009: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Australia today announced a US$12 million grant package which aims to improve the business environment and stimulate private sector investment in the Pacific region.

The package, comprising grants of around $9 million from the Australian Government, and $3 million from ADB's Technical Assistance Special Fund, will improve access to financial services, increase private investment opportunities through state-owned enterprise (SOE) reform and public-private partnerships, and facilitate expansion of the private sector through reform of business laws.

Australia will provide $60 million over the next four years to the United Nations’ Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

The CERF is a humanitarian trust fund established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005. It ensures that United Nations agencies have the financial resources they need to respond quickly to new or rapidly deteriorating crises.

On International Day of People with Disability (IDPWD), the Australian Government is proud to report on progress towards improving the quality of life of people with disability through Australia's international aid program.

Approximately 10 per cent of the world's population, some 650 million people, are living with disability. People with disability make up the world's largest and most disadvantaged minority and are increasingly recognised as the poorest and most marginalised in developing countries, accounting for at least 20 per cent of the most impoverished in developing countries.

The Australian Government today reaffirmed its strong commitment to mine action by presenting the Mine Action Strategy for the Australian aid program 2010-14 to the Summit on a Mine-Free World in Cartagena, Colombia.

Under the new strategy Australia has pledged $100 million over the next five years to help developing countries affected by landmines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war.

Today is the 21st anniversary of World AIDS Day. Since 1988, World AIDS Day has helped raise awareness about HIV/AIDS issues and the need to support people living with HIV/AIDS.

The Rudd Government today announced that Australia will provide $3 million over three years to HIV prevention programs in Burma, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to help reduce the spread of HIV.

Today I depart Australia to travel to South Africa, Malawi, Uganda and Kenya.

One of the purposes of my trip will be to strengthen Australia's ties with key development partners. I will be meeting with government representatives in Kenya, Uganda and Malawi and with heads of humanitarian agencies including the World Food Programme and UNICEF.

Ministers from Australia, New Zealand and Pacific island countries gathered today at a meeting in the Cook Islands to find ways to ensure greater inclusion of people with disability in the Pacific.

The theme of the meeting is ‘Strengthening Partnerships for Disability Inclusive Development in the Pacific’ and focused on the endorsement of the Pacific Regional Strategy on Disability 2010-2015.

Today I depart Australia for the Cook Islands to attend the inaugural Pacific Islands Forum Disability Ministers meeting from 21-23 October.

Forum Leaders noted in August that the region needs to pay more attention to people with disability.
This meeting will explore ways to better work together within our development partnerships to ensure people with disability are included socially and economically in the Pacific.

Today I depart Australia to visit Tonga and Samoa.

This will be the first visit by a member of the Australian Government to Tonga and Samoa since they were devastated by the October tsunami. This visit will reaffirm the strong commitment we have to our friends and neighbours in the Pacific.

A new economic report says creative policies in labour, trade and energy management will enable the Pacific and East Timor to build economic resilience.

The report, Pacific Economic Survey 2009, engaging with the world was launched in Tonga today by Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, will today launch an exhibition, Blueprint for a Better World: the Millennium Development Goals and You, in Adelaide.

“This travelling exhibition highlights the tangible options for how individuals and communities can take action in reducing the number of the world’s most vulnerable and poor,” said Mr McMullan.

Australia will provide up to $1 million to support response and recovery activities in the wake of Tropical Storm ‘Ondoy’ which hit the island of Luzon in the Philippineson 26 September.

Australia extends its condolences to the communities affected by this disaster.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan today hosted the first of two civil society consultative forums on the Australian aid program.

The forums, to be held in Sydney and Melbourne, bring together experts from the business, academic and community sector in a roundtable discussion.

Australia will empower tens of thousands of Peruvian women and their families through a microfinance project as part of a new partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank.

Australia’s contribution of $2 million will support 100,000 women entrepreneurs through training, networking and mentoring, arming them with the management skills and confidence required to develop more sustainable and profitable businesses.

The international development community was saddened to hear of the passing of Dr Norman Borlaug on Saturday night following complications with cancer. Dr Borlaug was 95.

A new book detailing the rich experiences of landcare facilitators and farmers involved in the
ten-year Philippines-Australia Landcare Project has been officially launched in Australia
today as part of National Landcare Week.
Landcare in the Philippines – A practical guide to getting it started and keeping it going, is
written by 15 landcare facilitators and farmers and published by the Australian Centre for
International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) to help guide new landcare facilitators in
developing countries.

Globally fewer than five percent of children with disabilities are attending school, and in some cases the figure is less than one percent. UNICEF and the Australian Government will partner in a new initiative to change this unacceptable situation.

Today I signed a Partnership Framework with the Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Ms Inés Alberdi. The Partnership Framework will strengthen efforts to achieve gender equality and reduce violence toward women in the developing world.

From wading knee-deep in mud in a Bangladeshi village to counselling street kids in Vietnam’s night markets, these and other incredible experiences of young Australian volunteers feature in the new documentary No Ordinary Journey.

Australia will donate $200,000 in emergency supplies to assist people on Taiwan devastated by Typhoon Morakot.

The Typhoon, which hit Taiwan on 7 August, caused widespread damage through flooding and mudslides. According to recent reporting, the death toll may exceed 500, and several thousand people are believed to remain stranded without food or potable water.

Bob McMullan, Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, today released the second annual Tracking development and governance in the Pacific report.

"The Pacific region is seriously off track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The people of the Pacific expect us all, donors and Pacific island governments alike, to do much better," Mr McMullan said.

Speech delivered on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of IDSS, in Melbourne, on Friday 24 July 2009.

Australia will more than double assistance for trade to developing countries through the World Trade Organization (WTO) the Minister for Trade, Simon Crean, and Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, announced today.

This year the Australian Government will provide the WTO $2.5 million for development assistance activities, up from $1 million last year.

Minister for Trade Simon Crean and Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance Bob McMullan welcomed the outcomes of the 2009 Pacific Islands Forum Trade Ministers Meeting just concluded in Apia, Samoa.

Discussing the release of the '2009 Report of the Global Campaign for the Health Millennium Development Goals'.

I welcome the second report of the Network of Global Leaders that highlights how 15 nations – including Australia – are taking a lead role in protecting the most vulnerable during the global recession.

Federal Member for Fraser, Bob McMullan MP, today highlighted the Australian Government's commitment to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and their focus for international efforts to reduce global poverty by 2015.

In a display of support for the MDGs, Mr McMullan launched eight icons of the Goals posted along 20 metres of windows outside AusAID House in London Circuit, Canberra.

The 2009-10 Budget underlines the Government’s ongoing commitment to increase Australia’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) to 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2015-16.

Australia’s ODA/GNI ratio is forecast to increase to 0.34 per cent in 2009-10, up from 0.33 per cent in 2008-09. It is expected to reach 0.40 per cent in 2012-13.

Improving maternal and child health remains one of the greatest global development challenges on Mother’s Day.

Maternal and child mortality remains unacceptably high across much of the developing world.

Each year, more than 500 000 women die in pregnancy and childbirth, and for every death another 20 suffer illness or injury.

The global economic crisis is putting the health of women and children in the Asia-Pacific region at greater risk, Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, said today.

Mr McMullan co-launched a report, Investing in Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, the Case for Asia and the Pacific, at the Asian Development Bank Annual Meeting, Bali, which exposed gaps in health investment for women and children.

Australia is providing $20 million in 2008-09 to activities addressing avoidable blindness in the Asia-Pacific region.

More than 314 million people around the world have impaired vision, often from avoidable causes.

Oxfam’s new report The Right to Survive raises important issues about the vulnerability of the most poor to climate change.

Climate change is likely to increase the frequency, severity and unpredictability of weather-related hazards, and will increase the vulnerability of people across the world to natural disasters, particularly those living in poverty who have the least capacity to
respond.

A speech delivered to the Australian Institute of International Affairs on 24 March 09 outlining the Government's approach to the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 - Child and Maternal Health.

The Australian Government’s Enterprise Challenge Fund (ECF) will provide more than $5.5 million to nine innovative business projects in the Asia Pacific region as part of a program to encourage economic growth.

The ECF is a $20.5 million program aimed at strengthening the private sector, encouraging economic growth and reducing poverty in the region.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Mr Bob McMullan, today congratulated all ACIAR staff for their efforts to reduce electricity consumption and their decision to install a 48-panel solar facility.

ACIAR has cut its annual electricity consumption by more than 25 per cent with a staff commitment to turning lights off when not needed, using fewer and more efficient lights and paying attention to the settings on its air-conditioning system. As part of its ongoing computer system upgrades, ACIAR has also installed much more energy-efficient computer hardware.

A new partnership agreement was signed today by the Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Bob McMullan and the President of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), the Hon Margaret Reid, to better coordinate and maximise Australia’s efforts to reduce world poverty and suffering.

The agreement between the Australian Government and ACFID, the non-profit international development agencies’ peak body, recognises the important role that both sectors play in international development activities.

The Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Mr Bob McMullan, today welcomed a report that highlights the sanitation and water challenges facing developing countries in our region.

The report by a coalition of academic and non-government organisations, including the Institute for Sustainable Futures and WaterAid Australia, was released to mark World Water Day.

I am pleased to announce the 2009 winners of the prestigious Allison Sudradjat Award.

These awards honour the memory of Allison Sudradjat, the former head of the Australian aid program in Indonesia and senior representative in Papua New Guinea, whose life was tragically cut short in a plane crash in Indonesia on 7 March 2007.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, will today present the John Dillon Memorial Fellowship award to nine talented agricultural scientists and economists from the across the Asia-Pacific region

Statement of the Hon Bob McMullan MP, Envoy of the Australian Prime Minister to the International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Economy for the Reconstruction of Gaza – 2 March, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt

Bob McMullan discusses the Bali Democracy Forum, the FAO's World Food Insecurity Report 2008, and the Future of Australia’s aid program with Alex Sloane on the 666 ABC Canberra Morning Show.

“Australia will provide a $1 million grant to the Indonesian National Commission on Violence Against Women as part of our commitment to addressing violence against women in the region,” Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance Bob McMullan announced today.

The funding will assist the Commission to promote human rights and particularly the rights of women in Indonesia.

Attached is the statement I made on behalf of Australia at the International Review Conference on Financing for Development at Doha on 1 December, 2008.

Attached below is the speech I made at the launch of AusAID's new strategy for development for people with a disability, 'Development for All'.

The Australian Government has for the first time made people with disability a priority for Australia’s international development program.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, will today launch Australia’s first strategy to guide Australia’s aid program in supporting people with a disability in the developing world.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development, Bob McMullan will today help launch an art exhibition to break the ‘toilet taboo’ and raise awareness of sanitation needs in the Asia-Pacific region.

Poor sanitation affects about 190 million people in the Asia-Pacific region. Approximately 75,000 children die every year from diarrhoea in South-East Asia and the Pacific alone.

The public exhibition of 100 decorated toilet pans, to be displayed in Brisbane today, is part of World Toilet Day, which aims to generate public discussion on sanitation issues.

An agreement to up-skill Papua New Guineans to work on the proposed liquefied natural gas PNG LNG project is just one of the outcomes from a visit to PNG by Bob McMullan, Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for International Development.

Mr McMullan said his visit to PNG would result in both countries getting to work on how to deliver the Pacific Partnership for Development.

A warehouse containing essential emergency relief supplies opening today will enable Australian humanitarian agencies to respond faster to disasters in the region.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, today opened the Joint Emergency Stores Warehouse in Brisbane, a partnership between the Australian Government and three humanitarian relief agencies.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, today committed Australia to a leadership role in supporting people with disability in the Asia Pacific.

An estimated 650 million people across the world have a disability and about 80 per cent of the population with a disability live in developing countries. The Asia Pacific region is home to two-thirds of this population.

“The Australian Government recognises that poverty is both a cause and consequence of disability and is committed to ensuring that the benefits of development reach those who are most excluded,” Mr McMullan said.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, has expressed his sympathy for the family of Sydney aid worker Darren Stratti.

Australia will be amongst the first countries to provide urgently needed help to the victims of Typhoon Fengshen in the Philippines.

Australia has responded by providing an initial $500,000 to the Philippines National Red Cross appeal for emergency assistance, issued yesterday.

The Australian Government will provide $1.2 million in additional humanitarian assistance to meet the essential needs of vulnerable communities in Bangladesh.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, has opened Relief in Sight – a compelling display of 68 photographs reflecting Australia’s commitment to helping people affected by natural disasters and conflict.

“The powerful and poignant images offer a rare insight into the role of volunteers and relief workers in rebuilding communities after disaster strikes,” Mr McMullan said.

Australia will work with Pacific Governments and the UN to strengthen women’s leadership in the region.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, said women are significantly under-represented in decision-making positions in the Pacific.

Transcript of the press conference held following the pledging conference in Burma on 25 May.

The second in a series of speeches on the future for Australia's Development Assistance Program, delivered at the University of Adelaide

The 2008-09 Budget lays the foundation for implementing the Government’s long-term commitment to increase Australia’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) to 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2015-16.

Australia will provide an estimated $3.7 billion in ODA in 2008-09, increasing Australia’s ratio of ODA to GNI from 0.30 per cent in 2007-08 to 0.32 per cent in 2008-09. The Government expects to increase Australia’s ODA to levels equivalent to 0.35 per cent of GNI in 2009-10, 0.37 per cent of GNI in 2010-11 and 0.38 per cent of GNI in 2011-12.

Australia will help increase youth employment in East Timor.

A $24 million four-year program is helping to create short-term employment opportunities and establish vocational education and training benefiting up to 70,000 young people.

I will visit East Timor from 7 to 11 May, 2008. It will be my first visit to East Timor as Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance.

During my visit I will call on President HE Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta and meet with Prime Minister Mr Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao and other Ministers and senior officials in the Government of Timor Leste to discuss the Australian development cooperation program.

I am pleased to announce funding of a new agricultural research project that will help increase wheat and maize production in Afghanistan, as part of Australia’s commitment to rebuilding food security, income generation and rural employment opportunities.

To achieve this, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and AusAID are providing $1.5 million funding over four years in partnership with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre and the Afghanistan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock.

The refurbished Papua New Guinea National Library will be officially opened by Bob McMullan, Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance today, 30 years after its official opening in 1978.

The Hon Bob McMullan MP, Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, will today open Survivors, a photographic exhibition detailing the impact of landmines on survivors in Cambodia.

A range of Australian organisations will open their doors to current and future regional leaders after securing funding under Round 2 of the Australian Leadership Awards -Fellowships program.

Australia will help the Philippines to ensure public schools reach and maintain higher standards of basic education and increase young Filipinos’ access to education.

We will provide a $41 million development assistance grant over four years (2007 –2011) through a World Bank trust fund in support of the Government of the Philippines’ basic education reforms.

The Australian Government will establish stronger alliances with a range of domestic, regional and international partners to improve the quality and effectiveness of health sector development assistance in the Asia-Pacific region.

We will provide up to $24 million over four years to establish Health Knowledge Hubs with the Nossal Institute; the University of New South Wales; the University of Queensland; and the Centre for International Child Health, Menzies School of Health Research and the Burnet Institute.

On the eve of United Nations World Health Day (7 April), the Australian Government has reaffirmed its commitment to improving sanitation services in the Asia-Pacific region.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, said improving access to clean water and sanitation services is crucial to raising the health and living standards of people in the Asia Pacific.

The private sector in Cambodia can now bid for Australian Government-funded grants for projects that lift people out of poverty.

The Enterprise Challenge Fund for the Pacific and South East Asia provides grants of up to $1.5 million for developing successful business ideas which improve livelihoods, incomes and access to vital goods and services in Cambodia.

Australia will contribute $570,000 to support voter education and civic participation in the lead up to the Cambodia National Assembly election this year.

Australia will provide further support to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia which have been established to prosecute those leaders most responsible for crimes against humanity during the Khmer Rouge period.

Australia is working with Mekong countries to address the impacts of climate change.

The Australian Government is providing $450,000 to support a climate change partnership between the CSIRO and the Mekong River Commission (MRC).

I will visit Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from 1 to 4 April, to attend the “Phnom Penh Dialogue 2008 on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace and Harmony.”

The Australian Government is partnering with business to fight poverty in our region.

The Government will provide $400,000 to Business for Millennium Development to encourage business to address poverty in developing countries in the Asia Pacific.

I am pleased to release the first Annual Review of Development Effectiveness.
The Rudd Government came to office with a commitment not only to increase Australia’s overseas aid, in line with the growing contributions of other developed nations, but also to make it more effective.

The Australian Government will provide grants to community groups, non-government organisations and national human rights institutions in developing countries to help promote and protect human rights.

The Australian Government, through AusAID, will provide $2 million in humanitarian assistance to flood victims in southern Africa.

Australia will provide an additional $2 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) for food aid to meet an urgent and growing need for humanitarian assistance in Zimbabwe.

Australians are being reminded that tuberculosis remains a significant global problem.

The Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, today officially opened an exhibition focusing on the lives of people living with TB.

Australia will provide $5 million for food aid to Afghanistan through our international development assistance agency, AusAID, to help address severe food shortages affecting more than 2.5 million Afghans.

As a first step in the long process of improving the quality and effectiveness of Australia’s overseas aid, the Australian Government is implementing an enhanced three-year Development Research Strategy.

“It is not good enough to just increase the quantity of aid, although that is very important, we must increase the quality of the aid as well,” said Bob McMullan, Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance.

“Therefore, the Australian Government will provide $8.8 million for 27 new Australian Development Research Awards.

“Good research leads to a more effective aid program.

“The research will provide decision-makers with practical solutions to the most difficult development challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Mr McMullan announced the strategy and the Development Research Awards at an international development conference in Brisbane.

Kevin Rudd said Australia should be a world leader in the fight against global poverty in his campaign launch speech – Mr Howard did not even mention it.

It is clear that only Labor is genuinely committed to making poverty history.

Labor welcomes yesterday’s Make Poverty History’s SMS and email campaign, in which all the leading agencies are calling on Australians to make aid an issue at the election next week.

Make Poverty History’s report card has highlighted the relative strengths of Federal Labor’s aid policy, and articulated the numerous areas where Australia’s aid is currently falling short of decent international standards.

The need for more assistance to fight treatable or preventable blindness was highlighted in last night’s “7:30 Report” on the ABC.

Dr Nitin Verma is to be commended on the invaluable work he is carrying out, restoring vision to hundreds of thousands East Timorese people.

According to the ABC, Australia’s official contribution will end this year. Dr Verma says the real need is for the training of eye care personnel.

On World Sight Day earlier this month (11 Oct 07) Federal Labor announced our plan to Fight Avoidable Blindness in the Region, as part of a broader policy on disability in development.

After 11 years of inactivity, and after Federal Labor’s announcement, the Howard Government followed suit and made an announcement on blindness and disability.

While the decision was 11 years late, it is nevertheless more than welcome.

Federal Labor's Overseas Aid spokesperson, Mr Bob McMullan today said he was deeply disappointed that Federal Howard Minister, Mr Tony Abbott had criticised World Vision chief Tim Costello for his support for Federal Labor's foreign aid policy.

A Rudd Labor government will take the lead on water and sanitation for developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Unclean water and poor sanitation are the world’s second biggest killers of children, needlessly killing 1.8 million children every year.

An incoming Rudd Labor government will allocate an additional $100 million from Australia’s international aid budget in 2009/10 and an additional $200 million in 2010/11 to assist our neighbours meet a basic human need – access to clean water and sanitation.

After 11 years of inactivity, 5 weeks before the election, and one week after Federal Labor’s announcement, the Howard Government is finally coming on board to realise the importance of assisting people with disabilities in developing countries.

Not to be churlish, while the decision is 11 years late, it is nevertheless more than welcome.

It now guarantees that whoever is elected, the long neglected issues facing the poorest of the poor in developing countries - people with disabilities - will move to the centre of Australia’s aid program as they should have more than a decade ago.

Australia needs to do more to make poverty history.

Federal Labor believes Australia should be a leader in the fight against poverty.

In July this year, Kevin Rudd made the historic announcement to lift Australia’s international development assistance performance to hit the intermediate UN target of 0.5 per cent Gross National Income (GNI) by 2015.

This would be an important step in the right direction towards Australian doing its fair share of the work (particularly here in our own immediate region) to truly make poverty history.

Up to 75% of blindness is treatable or preventable, yet more than half of the world’s vision impaired live on Australia’s doorstep in Asia and the Pacific.

A Rudd Labor government will lead efforts to give sight to the poorest of the poor in our region, and will provide up to $22.5 million each year for two years to:
• Address eye health and vision care needs in our neighbouring countries in the Pacific using existing health system infrastructure.
• Identify and plan to expand into selected priority countries in South-East Asia.

As part of this plan, a Rudd Labor government will undertake a pilot program in the South Pacific and priority countries in South East Asia, establishing at least 10 Vision Centres and at least one Service Centre as well as providing support to the Pacific Eye Institute and training crucial eye and vision personnel.

Download the policy here.

Federal Labor welcomes the Government’s announced humanitarian assistance to Burma.

Scores of Burmese are still being arrested, as the country’s military continues its crackdown following last week’s protests.

Therefore, Australia needs to maintain its active assistance to the people of Burma.

The Howard Government has missed an important opportunity to join an international development initiative which breaks new ground in financing the fight against the world’s three most dangerous infectious diseases.

Yesterday the German and Indonesian governments signed an agreement to cancel a proportion of Indonesia’s debt on the condition that Indonesia invests half of the freed up money into national health programs.

Federal Labor welcomes reports of a partnership between Australia and Indonesia to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as part of the Global Initiative on Forests and Climate which was announced in March 2007.

Tackling this challenge is a useful and cost effective way to reduce the 20-25 per cent contribution of deforestation and other land use changes to global emissions.

The Government should build on this weekend’s positive announcement by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and arguing for avoided deforestation to be included in global climate change commitments beyond 2012.

Kevin Andrews’ wild allegations about unskilled workers “flooding into Australia” are a desperate attempt to divert attention from his own government’s failings.

To reiterate what was said and reported, a labour mobility scheme is impossible under current workplace legislation, as the necessary protection mechanisms for vulnerable workers are not present.

The Make Poverty History report card reported today illustrates the stark difference between the alternative governments, when it comes to the campaign to making poverty history.

In comparing the aid policies of the major political parties, the report card has highlighted the relative strengths of Federal Labor’s aid policy, and articulated the numerous areas where Australia’s aid is currently falling short of decent international standards, under the Howard Government.

The Howard Government has the wrong priority in its campaign to improve governance in neighbouring countries through the Australian aid program.

The Shadow Minister for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, outlined to an aid forum in Queensland last night the need for a changed focus in Australia’s aid budget

The Government’s announced $6.5 million for global climate challenges is pathetic.

It is a wonder that the Minister for Foreign Affairs even bothered to put out a media release to announce such a paltry amount. He should be embarrassed to have called a press conference for so little.

Climate change is an especially real threat to the world’s poor. They are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and the least able to adapt to these changes.

An incoming Rudd Labor government would work with the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) to address urbanisation of the poor as part of Australia’s international development assistance.

The United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) State of World Population 2007 report marked the first time in history when half of the world’s population will be living in cities.

A Rudd Labor Government will commit $150 million from Australia’s international aid budget to assist our neighbours prepare for and adapt to the effects of climate change.
Experts warn that the impact of climate change, particularly through rising sea levels, could lead to the submergence of tiny atolls and the inundation of low lying land – and that by 2050 up to 150 million people may be displaced.

Federal Labor welcomes reports that the Howard Government is heeding Labor’s advice and increasing support to combat HIV/AIDS in our region.

An increase in funding to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region is welcomed, but we await the details of the spending profile.

“The United Nations First Annual Report Card exposes the inadequacies of the Howard Government’s 11 year record on international development assistance”, said Shadow Minister for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, speaking at the launch of the report today.

Alexander Downer must come clean on the dirty deal he struck during his visit to Nauru this week.

The Howard Government has historically been very secretive about the money it provides to Nauru and which it disguises as aid funding.

“Peter Costello yesterday on Insiders showed a smug complacency about the Government’s inadequate performance in the fight against global poverty”, said Bob McMullan.

Extract from Kevin Rudd's speech addressing the Lowy institute:
Australia’s national self interest demands that we ... tackle poverty in our region, as part of a wider strategy to deal with the impact of terrorism, climate change, pandemics and refugees on Australia ... if we fail to do so ... we will face even greater costs in the future...

[It] is also ... the right thing to do because poverty is the enemy of all humankind.
(View the full speech)

Click here to read Kevin Rudd's speech to the Lowy Institute

The Leader of the Opposition’s speech to the Lowy Institute today is historic.

It establishes for the first time in Australia’s history a commitment to lift Australia’s international development assistance performance to hit the intermediate UN target of 0.5 per cent Gross National Income (GNI) by 2015.

This is also an important step in the right direction towards Australian doing its fair share of the work (particularly here in our own immediate region) to truly make poverty history.

The UNFPA’s State of world population 2007 report launched today is significant, marking the first time in history when half of the world’s population will be living in cities.

The changing demography of poverty is having a significant impact on international development assistance.

Federal Labor’s new policy proposal on aid to Indonesia could radically change the lives of thousands of poor Indonesians fighting deadly diseases.

A Rudd Labor Government will offer to swap $75 million of Indonesia’s debt to Australia for Indonesian health programs to fight Tuberculosis (TB).

Under the Debt2Health agreement of the Global Fund to fight AIDs, TB and Malaria (GFATM), Australia would be prepared to forgive a portion of the debt owed from Indonesia, with half of this money to be invested in health programs focussing on TB.

Comments made by HIV/AIDs Ambassador in Senate inquiries yesterday have raised concerns that the Howard Government may have underestimated the HIV/AIDs problem in PNG.

While I welcome the work of AusAID’s HIV/AIDs program, the limited increase in new funds for HIV/AIDs programs in this year’s aid budget was a disappointment.

Australians will be extremely disappointed. Australians are very generous with their own money to fight global poverty and they’ll be extremely disappointed to hear that the money they thought the Government was using for that is actually being used to fund the Government’s tricky political exercises.

The debate on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2007-2008 and cognate bills gives me an opportunity tonight to speak on three matters of my shadow portfolio: firstly, my constituents in the ACT; secondly, federal-state relations; and, thirdly, international development assistance.

On the face of it, Labor welcomes the modest improvement to the aid program announced in the 2007 Budget.

Although the broadcast improvements are not as significant as the Government would like the aid community to believe, we welcome even a slight improvement to the lagging Australian aid program.

Transcript of radio interview with Radio Australia's "Pacific Beat" program

Federal Labor has called on the Howard Government to explain why it gives priority to the funding of detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island in the overseas aid budget.

And it also called for a new direction in overseas aid and focus on the South Pacific taking into account the emergency of “climate change refugees” from struggling atolls affected by increased ocean levels.

Labor welcomes the Business for Poverty Relief report released today urging businesses to take an active role in reducing poverty in our region.

At the launch of the Business for Poverty Relief Alliance in Melbourne today, Paul Gardner (Grey Global Group Australia) highlighted the inadequacy of the Australian Government’s contribution to overseas aid in contrast to other countries and called for a significant increase.

I welcome the Australian Government decision to provide $150,000 to help survivors of the worst flood in Jakarta for 10 years.

As a developed country in the Australia-Pacific region, Australia should always be ready to respond to our neighbours in need.

Natural disasters such as this flooding have the capacity to rapidly escalate into a national crisis. We should continue to monitor the situation and respond appropriately.

If the situation deteriorates the Australian Government should stand ready to provide further assistance if it is required.

Labor supports in principle the Government’s announcement that it will be suspending some forms of aid to Fiji because of the military coup.