Oxfam Australia » Opinion

Cutting Australia’s aid spending would be a tragedy

mediateam — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:01:14 +0000

Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce this week suggested Australia could make cuts to its overseas aid program to pay for services in Australia.

Poorest of the poor ask why Copenhagen failed to listen

mediateam — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:23:19 +0000

Shorbanu Khatun of Bangladesh stood out among the thousands of suited negotiators in Copenhagen. Khatun's husband was killed by a tiger when their land was parched by extended dry seasons and flooded with salt water, forcing him to venture into the jungle to feed his family.

Show poor countries the money to tackle climate change

mediateam — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:08:52 +0000

Mr Abbott may have won the majority of the votes in the party room, but if he wishes to do the same at the Federal Election, he must understand that the majority of Australians want action on climate change and will expect him to articulate a substantial policy, based on the science.

Take the pace out of PACER

mediateam — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:00:35 +0000

Trade officials and Ministers have been meeting this week in Brisbane to hammer out a new trade agreement between the Pacific Island Countries, and Australia and New Zealand – PACER-Plus.

Small-holder farmers the key to world food crisis

mediateam — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:21:03 +0000

There is enough food grown in the world for everyone. And yet we remain stuck in a food crisis. Half the world’s food is lost as waste while a billion people – one in every six of us – cannot access enough of the other half and so go hungry every day. Our leaders have another chance to put that right.

G20’s increased aid funding must be accompanied by better outcomes

mediateam — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:35:38 +0000

As Treasurer Wayne Swan attends the G20 Finance Ministers meeting in London this weekend, the Australian Government is preparing to follow through on a commitment it made at the last G 20 meeting.

Climate change is robbing people of their rights, writes Andrew Hewett

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:47:52 +0000

Around the world climate change is becoming a defining human tragedy of this century. In Micronesia, people are facing the prospect of moving from islands that will soon be underwater.

Leaders have opportunity to help poor

mediateam — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:00:00 +0000

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said food security will be top of the agenda at the G8 meeting this week (8 - 10 July). It's good to hear.

Deep injustice at the heart of climate change

mediateam — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:27:00 +0000

The world is getting close to the time when a global deal to secure a stable climate for future generations has to be struck, writes Oxfam Australia's James Ensor.

Moving beyond emergency in the NT

mediateam — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:48:00 +0000

It was amidst horrifying reports of child sexual abuse that the Northern Territory Emergency Response was announced two years ago this week.

G20 mixed bag gives grounds for scepticism

mediateam — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:37:00 +0000

It is increasingly clear that while the global economic crisis is hitting developed countries like Australia hard, it is crashing through the borders of poor countries with ever-greater severity. Indeed, the World Bank has estimated that an additional two to four hundred thousand infants a year will die as a result of this crisis.

Global meltdown hits world's poor hardest

mediateam — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 06:48:00 +0000

Buried on page ten of a World Bank Background Paper prepared for last weekend's G20 Finance Ministers' meeting was a sober but profoundly distressing statement.

End the greatest health divide

mediateam — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:13:00 +0000

Each day that the AusAID Family planning guidelines remain in place, the capacity of Australian agencies to provide comprehensive reproductive health services to women and communities as part of our development assistance programs is impaired.

Rudd must reach out to close the indigenous health gap

mediateam — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:09:00 +0000

A national strategy has to be shaped in partnership with Aboriginal groups.

Opportunity lost at Poznan

mediateam — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:00:00 +0000

After two weeks spent in frantic negotiations over commas and semi-colons, the climate negotiations at Poznan have taken only the barest shuffle towards Copenhagen, and on some crucial issues - like the targets for developed countries - have actually retreated from Bali.

Remember the forgotten victims of the financial crisis

mediateam — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:00:00 +0000

There are some forgotten victims of the Nightmare on Wall Street. Crises like the one we're experiencing tend to hit people living in poverty the hardest and it will be the case this time around. Developing countries will be hit hard, and people living in poverty in those countries the hardest.

Independent charity regulator is long overdue

mediateam — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Andrew Hewett calls for Australian Charities Commission - Opinion piece published on ABC Online on 28/08/08

Sturt and Eagles join forces to Close the Gap

mediateam — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:00:00 +0000

This weekend in the SANFL Round 18, Sturt and the Woodville-West Torrens Football Club are joining forces in support of their Aboriginal players and promoting the Close the Gap campaign, which aims to close the 17-year life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Biofuels add millions to the breadline

mediateam — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Unlike many other developed countries, Australia has not set mandatory targets for biofuel production or use. This is encouraging. The Australian Government should not to go down that path.

Where Business and Human Rights intersect.

mediateam — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Many Australian corporations are doing great work overseas. They are investing in developing countries, providing job opportunities to local people and working closely with local community organisations. Some Australian companies, however, are also ignoring people's most basic human rights. They are forcibly removing people from their land, dumping cyanide laden waste in waterways that are integral to livelihoods, and, on the whole, facing none of the legal ramifications they would face at home.