Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Right now over 1,000 young people are on their way to Canberra, driving across Australia in cars and vans and buses as part of an event called Roadtrip 2013. Roadtrip 2013 is bringing together Australia's most passionate young people, who will be trained to become leaders and ambassadors to help fight global poverty. From 9 to 16 March, groups of young people from all over Australia will be convoying through marginal electorates all across Australia to encourage others to join in the movement to end extreme poverty. They will then meet together in Canberra on Thursday morning on the lawns of parliament, and they will be asking the government to increase the foreign aid budget to 0.7 per cent by 2020.

The South Australian Roadtrips will be going through Adelaide, Bordertown, Mount Gambier, Bendigo and Ballarat. I was very pleased to meet with over 80 of the participants in Adelaide last Saturday and to see them off as they departed from Glenelg, in my electorate. Included among them were many of my constituents who have taken the time to write to me recently—by hand, in many cases—about why ending global poverty matters to them. They included Kendra Pratt, Jake Alker, Andrea Beaumont, Maddi Veitch, Nick Harpas, Tina Tran, Portia Vail and Kendal, who is from Cowandilla, close to where I grew up. We sat on the grass under blue skies in Moseley Square at Glenelg and talked about why it is important that we fight poverty and what we can do as a country, as members of parliament, as individuals and as groups, to end it forever.

The group I met, like the participants taking part from all over Australia this week, are young and they are energetic. But they are also smart, practical, visionary and driven to make change. They include people like Kate Helmore and Emily Haren, who are leaders of the Oaktree Foundation in South Australia, the organisation coordinating the trip. They know that the future of this country is theirs. Long after all of us have gone from this place, they will be the caretakers of our nation, and they know that they have the power to make it better. But I was very impressed to hear about the sacrifices they have already made—work hours, study time, family celebrations and social events with friends—to contribute to this good cause. I hope they know that what they are doing is worthwhile and that it is inspiring and energising for us as members of parliament when we see people in our community with such passion working towards such a good goal.

I hope that when they get to Canberra they receive a warm welcome from their MPs, no matter what side of politics they are on, and that their voices are heard loud and clear. Their message is simple—that a foreign aid budget of 0.7 per cent is the right thing to do as a wealthy nation and that it does not mean leaving Australians behind. I personally am proud to support an increase to the aid budget to 0.7 per cent, and I was very glad to receive the assurances of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, when I raised it with him this morning, that he is too. We are a wealthy nation. We can afford to look after people living in our country but also do our fair share for others overseas in some of our nearest neighbouring countries who did not have the fortune to be born here in Australia.

Over the last 20 years alone the current generation has already halved extreme poverty. Now, as we move into the final stage before the Millennium Development Goals deadline, it is absolutely time to finish the job. That is the message that Roadtrip 2013 are bringing to Canberra this Thursday for the launch of the Movement to End Poverty, and I hope all MPs will support them. Congratulations to everyone involved and I look forward to seeing them all in Canberra very soon. In the meantime, I urge all members and everyone to support Roadtrip 2013 by visiting their website at www.roadtrip2013.com.au or liking their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/theroadtripAU. Please support this very good cause.