Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday, 20 October, I joined the New Life Baptist Church in their Walk for Life along the Fernleigh track between Belmont North—or Jewells, should I say—and Belmont. This was a wonderful experience from my perspective. New Life Baptist Church is just a small church, but its members are passionate about helping developing countries by helping to provide clean water and adequate sanitation. They have partnered with the Samaritans. They raised over $5,000, which I think is a fantastic achievement. That money will go towards building wells and toilets in Cambodia.

On the day, they had the big toilet that was placed on the old Belmont railway station which is at the Belmont end of the Fernleigh track. The young people were all very keen to express their support for sanitation in countries that do not enjoy the same standards that we have. They told me about the fact that 780 million people live without access to safe drinking water, and 2.5 billion do not have access to hygienic toilets or latrines. Around 3,000 children die every day from causes related to water, sanitation and hygiene. In a country like Australia it is very easy for us to forget that people do not enjoy the same level of sanitation and access to safe drinking water that we do. At events like this one that I participated in, it was just so wonderful to see families, young people and older people walking along the Fernleigh track. Some of them were carrying buckets of water to demonstrate what it is like in developing countries where you have to travel significant distances with heavy containers of water. I believe that the New Life Baptist Church at Jewells should be congratulated on their commitment to solving the world's water, sanitation and hygiene crisis. I am committed to working with them. They also put to me that the Australian government needs a timetable commitment to increase aid to 0.7 per cent.

I seek leave to table a petition that was given to me by the New Life Baptist Church.

Leave granted.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I accept that subject to the committee reviewing it. That is the process for petitions.