Make Poverty History

Cyclist to end his epic ride across Australia to raise awareness of world poverty

Joelle Auffray — Thu, 10 May 2012 23:31:25 +0000

Canberra’s Matt Napier will return home to finish his epic ‘Long Ride to Stop the Poverty Cycle’ tomorrow (12 May), heading into Manuka Oval to the cheers of a half-time crowd.

At the end of a week which has seen the Federal Government cut foreign aid, Mr Napier will be finishing his 3,809 km journey which aims to deliver a message to communities across Australia about the important role aid plays in saving lives.

He set off from Perth on 1 April to cycle the 42-day route to Canberra, enduring the isolation of the Nullarbor, cycling alongside emus, and talking to school children along the way.

Mr Napier, who is riding to support Make Poverty History, said the route from Perth to Canberra was chosen to represent the children who died each year from poverty-related causes.

“Tragically, 7.6 million children will die this year before they reach the age of 5, “Mr Napier said. “That’s enough to make a human chain on both sides of the road from Perth to Canberra.

“Australian aid has helped to eradicate polio in the Pacific and helped to halve the number of people in the world without access to clean water. However, there is still much to be done.”

Mr Napier said he was very disappointed in the Government’s decision to fund the surplus by cutting foreign aid, and said the commitment of the Australian people to meet their obligations to the world’s poor was inspiring.

“In every town I’ve visited, I’ve heard about how much Australians want to see an end to world poverty, and for Australia to play its part,” Mr Napier said.

“Foreign aid should not be negotiable; people’s lives are at stake. Australia is still a wealthy country and we can afford to give it.”

Mr Napier and his wife, Wendy, own a successful garden maintenance business, and have decided to lessen up on their work life and devote more time to causes they feel passionate about.

Make Poverty History spokesperson and Australian Council for International Development acting executive director Susan Harris Rimmer praised Matt for his remarkable achievement.

“Matt has done the long haul, but it’s important to know that he is not alone. There are 2 million Australian households that support aid agencies either with their time or money,” Dr Harris Rimmer said.

http://www.makepovertyhistory.com.au for more information

For further information and interviews please call Laurelle Keough on 0425 701 801

Will the Coalition stand by its commitment to aid?

Make Poverty History — Wed, 09 May 2012 06:39:35 +0000

Last night, the Government delivered its federal budget, and it wasn’t good news for the world’s poorest people.

Despite previously committing to increase Australia’s aid budget to 0.5 per cent of national income by 2015, the Government announced that the planned increase for this year will be delayed. Next year, aid spending will remain at 0.35 per cent of Australias national income, well below the 0.38 per cent forecast in last year’s budget papers.

This means the Government’s commitment to aid in the budget has been reduced by $2.9 billion over the next four years. Make Poverty History member World Vision have calculated that this amounts to 290,000 lives that could have been saved.

Despite the Government’s announcement, there is still something you can do. The commitment to increase the aid budget was in fact a tripartite agreement, with Labor, Coalition and Greens all signing on. Tony Abbott will deliver his budget reply speech tomorrow, and we need your help to ensure that the Coalition stand by their commitment to Australia’s responsibility to the world’s poor.

As Make Poverty History co-chair Andrew Hewett put it last night:
“Australia’s aid program saves lives and it could save more lives, more quickly, without these cuts. This delay in aid spending means fewer people will have access to clean water, sanitation, education and healthcare.”

With one in seven people around the world still going hungry every day, the world can not afford to wait for action.

Write a letter to the editor about how you support Australia’s aid budget.
You might want to read Make Poverty History’s media release to get some ideas on what you might like to say.

Tweet your message to Tony Abbott or Julie Bishop

Tweet to @JulieBishopMP
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Government breaks promise to the poorest

Joelle Auffray — Wed, 09 May 2012 00:25:46 +0000

The Make Poverty History Coalition is disappointed the Government has not delivered on its election promise in this year’s Budget to allocate 50 cents in every $100 of national income to overseas aid by 2015.

Despite a firm commitment in both 2007 and 2010 to increase aid spending, the Budget handed down last night did not meet the promised increase. While the increase in aid spending of $300 million in the 12/13 Budget is welcomed, the Government has deferred its commitment to 50 cents in every $100 until 2016/2017.

Make Poverty History co-chairs – World Vision CEO Tim Costello and Oxfam Executive Director Andrew Hewett – said today that while they were pleased to see an increase in the aid budget, they were disappointed that the aid target had been delayed.

“The reality is if the government had kept its promise to boost aid to 0.5 of GNI by 2015 there would have been over $300 million more in aid in this budget alone,” Mr Costello said.

“There will be $2.9 billion less for aid by 2015/16 as a result of this delay. It is disappointing because the commitment on aid was strongly supported in the Australian community.”

With just 3 years until the 2015 deadline for the United Nations Millennium Development Goals – which aim to halve global poverty – Mr Hewett said the impact of delaying the target is significant.

“Every dollar denied now has real impacts for people living in poverty, for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and for keeping our promise to the world’s poor,” Mr Hewett said.

Australia currently sits 13th out of 23 OECD countries in terms of the generosity of its aid giving. Despite the difficult economic times and hard choices the Government has been forced to make, Australia remains one of the wealthiest countries in the world. We have the sixth highest income per person in the world and our level of government debt is by far the lowest of any major developed country.

“It is important that Australia get back on track with the aid budget. Delaying an increase in aid means we are now falling even further behind the other rich nations of the world, and it will mean even larger increases will be required in future budgets,” Mr Hewett said.

Mr Costello and Mr Hewett acknowledged that there were welcome initiatives in the Budget. For example, there were substantial increases in funding for humanitarian emergencies, and boosted funding for UN agencies (including the World Food Program and UN Women) and aid and development agencies.

The Make Poverty History Coalition urges the Government to get back on track as soon as possible. Millions of people around the world are depending on it.

For interviews or more information contact Joelle Auffray from Make Poverty History on 03 9251 5288/ 0426 956 787 or joelle@makepovertyhistory.com.au

Image from Oxfam Australia website

The Long Ride – 8 May

Matt Napier — Tue, 08 May 2012 23:45:23 +0000

We have reached the lovely city of Wagga Wagga and are now about 250km from Manuka oval, our final destination. After 2500km of no flat tyres we have had 5 in the last few days (very frustrating) but all part and parcel of a ride like this I guess. After leaving Darlington point we stayed at a little place called Collingullie which is about 24km west of Wagga. Wendy and I popped over to the local pub for a quiet drink only to be entertained by the locals who had been at the races all day and fair enough to say were well intoxicated but it was a good night.

While in Wagga we visited Turvey Park Primary School where we were lucky enough to speak to kids from year 3 to year 5. Always great to spread the word to children and once again it a pleasure to how interested the kids are in the ride and world poverty.

The Long Ride – 1 May

Matt Napier — Wed, 02 May 2012 06:14:14 +0000

We made it to Mildura without any hiccups and had a couple of days to recharge the batteries before we tackle the last leg of the ride. I expect the road to be pretty flat until we hit Wagga Wagga but after that the terrain will become quite hilly as we pass over the Great Dividing Range.

While in Mildura we set up a display at the local shopping mall where we spoke to locals about world poverty and my ride so far. It always staggers me how many people are appalled by the situation in Africa and other developing countries and want us and the united Nations to do more to improve the lives of so many less fortunate than us.

Before we left Mildura we were lucky enough to do a presentation at Mildura Senior College in front of 100 or so students (hi guys!!). We talked about poverty, the Millennium Development Goals and tried to give them an understanding of how different life is in a third world country. It is wonderful to be given the opportunity to speak to so many students as these kids are our future and the future leaders of this country. A big thank you must go to Sandy Gunn who is the Acting Assistant Principal for organising our visit and for taking such a passionate interest in educating the next generation about world poverty.

It was also great to get a lot of media interest in Mildura. It really makes us feel that the whole trip is opening the eyes of the Australian public. Thank you to all the media that covered the story including WIN News, The Sunraysia Daily, The Mildura Weekly and ABC Local Radio.

So after such a wonderful time in Mildura the ride must go on and it is now time to jump back on the bike and start peddling again – hard to believe we only have 800km to go. The next blog will be from well inside the borders of New South Wales and flying along the Sturt Highway overtaking road trains at will. Ha Ha I wish

The Long Ride – 28 April

Matt Napier — Tue, 01 May 2012 07:06:00 +0000

Arrived in Renmark after 3 pretty tough days of riding, it was good to give the body a bit of a break from the wind and rain. Renmark put on some fantastic weather for us which enabled us to do some washing and get things ready for the final 1000km of our ride. On the Friday we set up a table at the local shopping complex and talked to a few locals about what we are doing and why, and also did a couple of interviews for local newspapers. It was good to get such a positive response from the locals that we spoke to.

Wyalla Primary Interview

After that we headed to the local ABC for a radio interview – first time I had actually done a radio interview in the studio so it was good to see how it all operated.

Following that we had to rush off to Renmark Primary School to talk to the children about the ride and world poverty. It was my first visit to a school so I was a little nervous knowing that school kids can sometimes be a tough gig. We visited four classrooms in all, with two classes per room so about 120 kids all up. It seemed to go well with the children and teachers quite interested in what I was doing. It was fantastic to get the interaction from the students and I hope I opened up their eyes a little bit as to how lucky we are here in Australia. I was very impressed with how well the children behaved which was a credit to them and their teachers. After the classroom visits I was interviewed by three students for their school website. I would like to say what a wonderful job the 3 girls did – could make news reporters out of them one day for sure. Also, a big thank you to the school counsellor, Jason Sluggett, for organising the visit and a big HELLO to all the students at Renmark Primary.

We have now left South Australia and are about half way to Mildura and well on the way home.

Ask the PM to keep our promise to the world’s poor

Make Poverty History — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:27:57 +0000

In a few days’ time, the Government will present the federal budget, and it’s looking more and more likely that they may walk away from an election commitment to lift the levels of Australian aid spending.

Australia made a commitment to the world to help global efforts to halve global poverty by 2015. Both major political parties have promised to help lift more people out of poverty by increasing aid spending to 0.5% of GNI by 2015. But this year’s Federal Budget is set to be ‘the toughest yet’, according to the Treasurer.

We need your help to remind the Government how important their promise to the world’s poorest people really is. Australia needs to increase our aid spending so that we can fully contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, which aim to halve global poverty by 2015.

Show your support for Australia keeping its promise to the world’s poorest people, and put your name to an open letter sent to the Prime Minister.

You can also tweet your messages directly to the PM and Treasurer.

Dear Prime Minister,

In the year 2000, Australia agreed to play its part in global efforts to halve the number of people living in poverty by 2015. Australians can be proud that, so far, their leaders have kept this promise made in our name.

John Howard promised to double Australian aid in 2005. And the Gillard Government has promised to further lift the levels of Australian aid to 0.5 per cent of our national income by 2015.

This commitment has been supported by both sides of politics, as it should be. This is Australia’s promise to the world’s poor, no matter who is in Government.

Millions of Australians, young and old, expect this commitment to be maintained. And millions more of those living in poverty are depending on it.

This is a question of whether Australia can be trusted to do what it says it will do.

Reaching the 0.5 per cent target means just 50 cents in every 100 dollars of our national income will go towards our aid program. This falls short of the global target of 0.7 per cent, but it still means a lot to the world’s poor.

Keeping this promise on aid could save the lives of at least 800,000 extra people over the next four years.

Around the world more than 20,000 children still die each day because of diseases that can be easily prevented and treated like diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria.

Millions of people live on less than 2 dollars a day in our neighbouring countries like Timor Leste, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

The money the Government has promised to spend on aid is desperately needed.

Australian aid levels are not generous by world standards – currently we are below the average when compared to what other rich nations give. We rank 13th on the league table of 23 rich countries that give aid. But what we do give makes a big difference.

Prime Minister, we hear this will be a tough budget and reports say that aid spending is on the hit list. But we cannot balance the books with the lives of the world’s poor.

We the undersigned, and the more than 2 million Australian households who generously support aid organisations each year, urge you to keep the promise to increase aid to 0.5 per cent by 2015-16.

It is up to you to prove that when Australia makes a promise, we keep it.

Name:

E-mail address (will be kept private):

Postcode:

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You can download the above letter, along with the full list of signatories here.

The Long Ride – 26 April

Make Poverty History — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:01:54 +0000

Well we are now at Renmark, less than 1000km to go and I still can’t believe how well the body is holding up. Over the last 3 days we have made it from Port Augusta to Renmark – some 400km – and the weather has changed from warm and sunny to showery, windy and cold.

Tuesday was an interesting day and proved to be one of the toughest to date, some 175km in the wind and rain. We had stayed the night in Gladstone and after a slow start had lunch about 20km short of Burra. We had only covered about 70km so far, a far cry from where I was hoping to be.

On reaching Burra I felt that it was not quite enough and decided to push on. Thinking the 88km to Morgan was out of reach I was hoping to get about 40km short and camp there. Looking at the map I could see that the road would veer to the west a little and maybe enough to make the cross breeze I had been battling all day into a tail wind.

After a while riding became much easier and the wind was really giving me a good kick along and maybe just maybe we could make it to Morgan. I was cruising along when Wendy came along and said we were out of gas and that she would need to go through to Morgan and come back. We were 45km short of Morgan. I considered calling it a day but this wind was really helping for once so I decided to push on. Cruising along singing out loud to whatever wildlife would listen I saw a road train coming from the south. At first I thought it must be on a side road as the road I was on was straight but low and behold he was on my road. The road was to take a sharp turn south meaning the tail wind that had been my best friend would turn into more of a head wind.

All of a sudden the wildlife that had been listening to my wonderful signing had just heard a few expletives that can’t be repeated. The next 30km was going to be a hard tough slog. I was counting down the kilometres thinking I can still make this, peddling as fast as my body would let me but I didn’t feel I was getting anywhere. There were 4 outcomes that could happen: my back tyre that was balder than me could pop at anytime; Fatigue could win and I would be stuck on the side of the road; the sun could set leaving me in the dark; or of course I could just ride on. At this time all options were a possibility but I decided to plug on and slowly count down the kilometres to go. 20kms to go soon became 15km and then slowly 10km. The last 10kms I have to say seemed to take forever but we made it to Morgan at 5.30pm and I was probably as tired as I had ever been on this trip. It was dinner and straight to bed for me.

A rewarding day and an example of never giving up, because as soon as you give up you will never reach your goals!

Riding into Morgan at Dusk