Letter to Prime Minister re foreign aid
Dear Mr Abbot,
My name is Matthew Wright and I am in year 9 at Turramurra High School. I am writing to you regarding the coalition’s foreign aid budget. In 2005 John Howard promised to double Australian aid and recently the Australian Labor Party promised to further lift it to 0.5% of our gross national income by 2015. Our foreign aid is still sitting on 0.34%.
There are millions of people depending on developed countries like Australia to help them out. It is easy to ask why it has to be us, but why should it not be us? We have the ability to make a change, so why shouldn’t we?
There is nothing wrong with making our beautiful country even better, but as we enjoy our amazing surroundings, it is worth thinking of the countries that our foreign aid goes to. Do their surroundings look anywhere as good as ours?
It may seem like a big change sending the foreign aid on the up again but it doesn’t take that much at all. I know that it is much easier said than done but increasing foreign aid to at least 0.7% is the least we can do to make a change in someone else’s life. Someone else’s life who is doing it tougher than we are, much tougher than we are.
What I and many other Australians are wondering, is can Australia live up to what it says it will do.
Even taking foreign aid to 0.5% can make a huge difference to people who really need our help, even though it falls short of the global target.
Millions of people around the world live on less than $2 per day. That’s not a $2, that’s less than $2 and it’s not a $1 coffee. Its sub $2 of fighting just to survive, trying to find enough food and water to live on.
In Australia we are very lucky with the technology in our hospital systems. Although around the world, over 20000 children die each day because of easily preventable and treatable diseases like malaria and diarrhoea.
I know it’s not easy. I think we all know. But we can’t worry about our roads and sporting programs and fancy buildings over people’s lives. They
My name is Matthew Wright and I am in year 9 at Turramurra High School. I am writing to you regarding the coalition’s foreign aid budget. In 2005 John Howard promised to double Australian aid and recently the Australian Labor Party promised to further lift it to 0.5% of our gross national income by 2015. Our foreign aid is still sitting on 0.34%.
There are millions of people depending on developed countries like Australia to help them out. It is easy to ask why it has to be us, but why should it not be us? We have the ability to make a change, so why shouldn’t we?
There is nothing wrong with making our beautiful country even better, but as we enjoy our amazing surroundings, it is worth thinking of the countries that our foreign aid goes to. Do their surroundings look anywhere as good as ours?
It may seem like a big change sending the foreign aid on the up again but it doesn’t take that much at all. I know that it is much easier said than done but increasing foreign aid to at least 0.7% is the least we can do to make a change in someone else’s life. Someone else’s life who is doing it tougher than we are, much tougher than we are.
What I and many other Australians are wondering, is can Australia live up to what it says it will do.
Even taking foreign aid to 0.5% can make a huge difference to people who really need our help, even though it falls short of the global target.
Millions of people around the world live on less than $2 per day. That’s not a $2, that’s less than $2 and it’s not a $1 coffee. Its sub $2 of fighting just to survive, trying to find enough food and water to live on.
In Australia we are very lucky with the technology in our hospital systems. Although around the world, over 20000 children die each day because of easily preventable and treatable diseases like malaria and diarrhoea.
I know it’s not easy. I think we all know. But we can’t worry about our roads and sporting programs and fancy buildings over people’s lives. They