Latest Opinion

If elected to the UN Security Council, what should Australia bring to the table of the most powerful body in the UN?

Amidst speculation this week that Australia’s resources boom is nearing an end, unlocking the vast wealth of Africa is high on the agenda for mining executives, investors, government officials and NGOs meeting in Perth this week.

Remember the Kyoto Protocol? The only international legally binding framework the world has to reduce emissions? Signing it, to much fanfare, was Labor’s first significant act after being swept to victory in 2007. It signalled Australia’s willingness to finally join international action to fight climate change.

In recent weeks, there have been reports of young girls and teachers in the northern Takhar province of Afghanistan being poisoned in an attempt to stop them from going to school.

In her first major speech on Australian aid since Labor broke its promise to the world’s poor in last month’s Budget, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop tonight has the opportunity to put pressure on the government to put the aid program back on track and make a real change to the lives of millions of people.

Leading chefs such as Julie Goodwin, Kylie Kwong and Neil Perry were joined by popular food bloggers and home cooks alike in contributing vegetable-based recipes to raise awareness of Oxfam’s work to tackle global hunger and to draw attention to our Stop Hunger appeal.

Despite being worth an estimated $1.2 trillion annually, the arms trade has less international controls than the trade in bananas or iPods. This means that all too often guns and other weapons are ending up in the hands of human rights abusers and repressive regimes.

This budget will test the strength of Australia’s convictions – and commitment – to help the world’s poorest.

The upcoming budget will test the strength of Australia’s convictions to help improve the lives of the world’s poor, many of who live in nearby countries.

In the first weeks after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, I remember meeting a young man called Anthony in a village called Manakudy, on the southern tip of Tamil Nadu in India. He was about 17 years old, and had lost both his father and sister to the deadly waves.