Matt Williams MP, Member for Hindmarsh, speaking in Federal Parliament in Canberra. Picture: Matt Williams MP, via YouTube and Facebook.

Last week, I spoke at a forum organised in Glenelg by the Campaign for Australian Aid, where I talked about the Australian aid program as a form of regional intercultural exchange that helps us maintain a certain level of human security in Australia and the Asia-Pacific, in particular.

As a result, I was mentioned in Parliament by another speaker there, Matt Williams, Member for Hindmarsh. Here’s a video (yes, with some mispronunciation, but that’s OK):

• Originally published by Matt Willams MP on Facebook.

And here’s the text of his remarks, as clipped and made available by Open Australia:

Matt Williams(Hindmarsh, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to attend the Campaign for Australian Aid local SA action group information evening at the Holdfast Bay Bowls and Croquet Club. Campaign for Australian Aid is a joint initiative of the Make Poverty History and Micah Challenge coalitions. Over the last few months I have met with representatives of both Micah and Voices for Justice and want to acknowledge their commitment and approach to world poverty and foreign aid.

At the forum I touched on the billions of dollars the Australian government provides annually for foreign aid and the work being done by companies such as Coffey and Scope to execute Australian foreign aid funding. Coffey manages the Economic and Public Sector Program for Papua New Guinea on behalf of the Australian government. The program aims to create a more effective and efficient public service sector for Papua New Guinea so that men, women and children can access better services.

Australia is supporting Indonesia’s effort to improve maternal and neonatal health services through the Australia Indonesia Partnership for Maternal and Neonatal Health program in order to reduce deaths due to pregnancy complications or poor post-natal care.

It was inspiring to hear of the work of other guest speakers, such as Brad Chilcott, the founder of Welcome to Australia, Dr Amrita Malhi from UniSA and d’Arcy Lunn from the Global Poverty Project. I want to thank Judee Adams of Oxfam for her hard work in organising the forum and the many members of the public who attended and are committed to making the world a better place. On a personal level, my wife and I support organisations such as Compassion and UNICEFand, like many other Australians, donate generously.

• Originally published by Open Australia.