Our Friends In Need

The Age

Monday November 10, 2008

Philip Liberatore

This is the winning entry in the United Nations Youth Association Global Citizenship Essay competition. The competition was open to Victorian students in years 10 to 12. The topic: Is Australia a good international citizen?

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee..."

MORE than 400 years ago these words were written by Renaissance poet John Donne, reminding us of our interconnectedness through our shared humanity. In 2008, that shared humanity is felt more keenly as we have instantaneous communication about what is happening anywhere in the world; the impact of worldwide climatic disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes, and man-made disasters such as terrorist attacks, are part of our daily news.

This knowledge, especially the footage of people left destitute in societies without basic food and services, demands a response from us as it reinforces that we are part of a global community; we are its wealthy citizens. However, being a good international citizen requires more than just making a knee-jerk reaction to disaster, it also requires preventative actions that help to bring stability to other countries, equitably share resources and lessen man's negative impact on his environment.

Australia is aware of both its reactive and proactive responsibilities, but there is considerable debate as to whether Australia as a nation, as opposed to individual Australians, does enough to qualify us as being good citizens.

In recent times we have witnessed huge natural disasters, such as the earthquake in China and volcanic eruptions and tsunamis in Asia. The Australian media ensured that we were aware of the devastating effects of these events and the Australian public donated millions of dollars to these causes. Australians have always prided themselves on responding in these situations, but there are outside measures as to how much a country really gives in aid and these sources indicate that Australia is not as generous as its citizens believe it to be. A World Vision Report in August this year revealed that Australians believed the government directed 10% of its federal budget to overseas aid; however, the reality is that it commits 0.3%. Australia was one of the nations at the UN Millennium Summit in New York in 2000 that pledged to meet agreed Millennium Development Goals that would end world poverty; these goals required nations to give 0.5% of their Gross National Income to overseas aid by 2010 and 0.7% by 2015. The Australian Government has announced that it will increase aid to $4billion, which is about 0.36% of GNI in 2010. Australia is only one of six of the world's 22 most developed countries not to meet its millennium goal; we are condemned by our own failed promises. Therefore there is some justification in deeming we are not the best citizens in our UN community.

Overseas aid is not the only indicator as to a nation's contributions to its global community. Other factors of global engagement that are internationally monitored include: trade, investment, technology, migration, environment and security. The US-based Centre for Global Development produces annual statistics on countries rating them across these seven areas.

In 2007 Australia was ranked fifth overall. This ranking was achieved through contributions to peacekeeping efforts, our low trade barriers against developing-country exports and our comparatively open immigration policies. Factors lowering our overall placing were our low levels of overseas aid, our highest greenhouse gas emissions rates per capita and, prior to Rudd's ratification of Kyoto, our failure to having done so. The figures compiled by this agency are interesting because they consider different aspects under each category.

Under Migration, Australia has rated well for improving the number of unskilled migrants that have been allowed to settle since 1990, this gave Australia a ranking of three and it has a high number of overseas students, giving it a ranking of four. However, in terms of the numbers of refugees that Australia takes in for humanitarian reasons, it is ranked 12th. Australia benefits from the higher fees it applies to overseas students, so it can be asked if we target our policies to suit our needs rather than those of the global community, especially in a world where many people are fleeing from oppressive rule.

This link between philanthropy and self-interest can also be seen by the Centre for Democratic Institutions breakdown of aid spending. The CDI does not just measure how much aid is given; it lowers a country's ranking if that aid has restrictions, such as only being able to be spent on goods or services from the donating country. This in effect benefits the donor and might not be the most beneficial way for the aid recipient to spend the money; 19% of Australia's aid is "tied" funding. This money can be tied to agreements with Australian businesses or to the support of policies that favour Australian interests. Our close neighbour East Timor questions the purpose of aid when Australia refuses to allow the territorial boundary between the two countries to be drawn halfway, instead of much closer to the Timorese coastline. It claims that the shift in boundary would give East Timor much more money and independence from the profits made from the oil in these waters than is currently obtained through Australian aid. In this case, Australia is not seen to be equitably sharing resources that could be argued do not even belong to us. In these terms, we are not seen to be perfect citizens.

International relations are difficult to understand and difficult to negotiate. Australia can list an impressive array of international projects to which it contributes. However, if we fail to meet goals designed to bring about an end to world poverty, if we allow self-interest to determine our dealings with poorer countries and if we do not lower our carbon emissions per capita, then although we pride ourselves on our individual generosity, our support of freedom and our friendliness, we cannot really claim to be good citizens.

"No Man is an island...", no country can act as one, if it is to develop proactive global relationships that help to bring stability and equity to the world community.

Philip Liberatore is a year 10 student at Caulfield Grammar School

© 2008 The Age

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