Image courtesy of the National Press Club
On Thursday afternoon at a debate with Foreign Minister Stephen Smith at the National Press Club, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Julie Bishop committed to appointing a Minister for International Development if elected.
We’ve been calling for this all year – it’s a massive win for the campaign.
Creating a Minister in charge of a Department for International Development is one of the single biggest policies any Australian government can implement to increase the effectiveness of our aid. It means our aid receives more focus, is more independent, has more political muscle and is more accountable. This ultimately means we can achieve more for the worlds’ poor.
We can’t sit back and celebrate yet. Now is the perfect opportunity to guarantee that we get a Minister for International Development under the next government – whoever that is.
With just over a week until the election and with both sides scrambling for every vote them can find, a wave of community support might be all we need to get Labor over the line.
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