Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on the historic announcement to increase funding to help eradicate polio?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lyons for his question and his advocacy on this important cause. I know a number of members of the parliament and so many community members beyond the parliament have been very taken by the cause of eradicating polio from our planet and have put a lot of their own personal efforts into advocating polio eradication and raising money to eradicate polio. I remember as a young person, older children, admittedly, within my school who had had a personal battle with polio. I think members of the parliament would remember that Kim Beazley, who served here with such distinction and continues to serve our nation, fought his own battle with polio as a child.

Our nation has been a leader in eradicating polio, thanks to the work of a great Australian Sir Clem Renouf, who led the international Rotary campaign to vaccinate every Australian child against polio. That campaign has had a lot of success. In the modern world, polio only exists in four nations, which means that we can see the end is in sight when polio will be eradicated in the same way that we eradicated smallpox from the planet.

I was very pleased today to meet again—I have had the opportunity to meet him before—with Bill Gates. Bill and Melinda Gates, through their foundation, do remarkable work towards the end of eradicating polio. There is US$1.8 billion that the Gates foundation is contributing for the Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan. This private contribution makes up one-third of the total international budget for polio eradication. For private individuals to be donating at that level is truly impressive indeed. We would all give thanks that there are individuals prepared to put so much of their wealth and resources into such a good cause.

Governments need to partner too, and we have been partnering. We allocated $50 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative from 2011 to 2014. I announced that in October 2011. I am delighted to announce today that Australia will provide $80 million over four years, from 2015 to 2018, to help finish the job, so that our ongoing contributions are seamless from what we have already announced and we can keep putting resources in to eradicate this dreadful scourge around the world. Four countries to go; we can make a difference and our nation will be proudly doing so.