MP encourages pressure groups

By Paul Pickering
PHILANTHROPISTS from across the hills converged on Upwey Anglican Church last week to make a local stand on third world poverty.
The foreign aid forum was hosted by Federal Flinders MP Greg Hunt, Parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and attended by church groups, non-government organisations and globally minded individuals.
Mr Hunt noted that while small community groups often feel powerless to contribute to debate on foreign aid issues, their views and voices were heard at the government level.
“We are privileged in Australia and each of us here today feels a responsibility to help others,” he said, before opening the forum for discussion.
La Trobe MP Jason Wood said that with 2007 marking the halfway point in a bid to halve world poverty by 2015 – as set out in the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals – it was an appropriate time to refocus Australia’s commitment.
“I believe that creating opportunities to engage in the issue of foreign aid helps to keep the Millennium Development Goals firmly in the hearts and minds of people and governments across the world,” he said.
Mr Hunt praised those who attended the forum, noting that they were united by a common sense of humanity.