Locals take on Parliament

Some of our locals take on Parliament

Kaye and Tierney Reid from Doncaster Church of Christ, Mitch Kay and Emily Campbell from Ringwood Church of Christ and Jess Sanders and Leigh Cameron of New Hope Baptist returned home last week from Canberra’s Parliament House. They travelled to Canberra for ‘Voices for Justice’, in which they engaged in discussion with politicians about the Australian Government upholding its promise to help halve global poverty by 2015.

Over one hundred private, face-to-face appointments with MPs and Senators were held, as part of the Micah Challenge Voices for Justice gathering that brought 230 people to Parliament House on 19-20 September. They travelled from all over Australia and ranged from teens to mothers to retirees – united as Australians who wanted to see action taken to create a better, fairer world for all.

Voices for Justice participants want to see the Government and the Opposition keep their bi-partisan promise to increase the aid budget to 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI), or just 50 cents in every $100, by 2015.  They also want to see a timetabled commitment from both parties on when and how they will reach the internationally agreed Aid Target of 0.7%GNI. This is the amount Australia and other rich nations promised under the Millennium Development Goals – a global strategy to halve extreme poverty by 2015. Australia’s aid contribution is currently well below what is needed at just 0.35% GNI.

These participants shared their concerns with Kevin Andrews, Member for Menzies electorate, in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Kevin Andrews welcomed the visit and the opportunity to hear how people in his electorate felt about global issues. Mr Andrews noted the tight fiscal environment, but reiterated the Coalition's policy stance for 0.5% of GNI to be directed to aid by 2015. Mr Andrews encouraged local people to continue speaking to their federal member about their concerns for the global poor as it does have a powerful impact. More than 50 hand written letters from concerned people in the local community especially the faith communities were handed to Mr Andrews in the meeting, asking him to personally give these to the leaders of the government, expressing our concern.

The group also joined politicians in ‘Canberra’s longest toilet queue’, a public event to raise awareness for the 2.6 billion people worldwide who still have no access to adequate sanitation.  One of the other highlights of the campaign was ‘cooking with Poo’. Khun Poo from the slums of Klong Toey in Thailand joined us for the event and cooked a Thai breakfast for the politicians and the campaign participants and taught the participants how to cook Thai food. Poo’s participation was particularly apt, because of her own powerful story about raising herself and her family out of extreme poverty through her cooking school, but also because of the focus of this year’s campaign on improving Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH). So there was a lot of talk of toilets and poo.

This was the first taste of political lobbying for many in the group, including Emily Campbell, a nursing and midwifery student from Donvale. Emily had just returned home from Nepal, where she completed a voluntary nursing/midwifery placement for a month. “When I was over in Nepal, I witnessed firsthand the dire effects a lack of funding, resources and training can have on precious lives. I had a particularly heart breaking day in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the hospital didn’t have the medications and measures we take for granted here in Australia, and as a tragic consequence a 2 day old baby died. It was a remarkable experience being able to speak out for my friends over in Nepal, who don’t have a way of accessing people in power,” Emily said.

Micah Challenge National Coordinator John Beckett said that the involvement of campaigners like this group have already made a difference. “We’re definitely seeing progress. This year the Government committed an extra $200 million to help immunise children around the world, which was a big win for our supporters.”

Micah Challenge is a global movement of aid and development agencies, churches, schools, groups and individuals who want to deepen their engagement with poor communities and influence world leaders to meet their commitments to the Millennium Development Goals. See www.micahchallenge.org.au.

For more information or to request an interview:
Kaye Reid, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0409 357 103