Over the last two decades, the world has made unprecedented progress towards reducing poverty and injustice; and the church has played a crucial role in this!

Through collaborative efforts such as Micah Challenge, the Jubilee 2000 campaign, and Make Poverty History, Christians have demonstrated willingness to utilise their citizenship to advocate on behalf of the global poor.

In the midst of debate about the “decline of the church” in Western culture, God has provided ample opportunity for the church to reflect the justice, righteousness and mercy of His Kingdom.

Tonight (Tuesday 8 May), the Australian Government will announce its Federal Budget for the upcoming financial year. While the media will likely focus on economic prospects and political commentary, it is important to remember that the Budget is also a moral document. 

The Federal Budget reflects the nation’s priorities and impacts how we care for others in our society. Jesus’ teaching of “For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.” (Luke 12:34) comes to mind.

Through the Budget, the church can help Australia seek justice and compassion for those in need.

In 2012, it’s immensely important that the Australian Government maintain its commitment to increasing our overseas aid contribution of 0.5 percent of our Gross National Income (GNI) – which is already below the 0.7 percent commitment made to the global poor over a decade ago.

These increased funds are crucial for increasing our work in areas such as improving access to clean water – work that will save lives!

Overseas aid has seen great progress in this area (it’s also one of the few global targets that will be achieved by 2015). Now is not the time to waiver on this promise!

Despite great progress, there are still around 773 million people in the world living without access to safe drinking water. Around 2.6 billion live without proper sanitation. As a result, approximately 3,000 children die each day from water, sanitation and hygiene-related causes.

If Australia were to maintain our commitments to increasing overseas aid, we would not only see further reductions in child deaths related to water and sanitation, but also reduced health care costs and greater school attendance. Please continue your amazing support of our work by: