Nice work, everyone. On 1 May our campaign calling on Prime Minister Gillard to keep her promise on foreign aid made national news.
After our press conference I wanted to give you a quick update.
As you can see in the photos, every major TV network sent cameras to our press conference, and the major radio and news outlets all had Sydney journalists along. Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, CEOs of Australia's major aid organisations, and GetUp's Simon Sheikh stood together to launch our full-page newspaper advertisements and local marginal seat campaign.
Thanks to you, our full-page ad ran today in the Courier Mail and Hobart Mercury (picked for their huge readerships across important marginal seats). It looked great! If you couldn't get your hands on a copy, you can check it out in the (admittedly dorky) photo below of Tom O'Connor, CEO of the Oaktree Foundation, and me in the GetUp office with our copy.
Our allies in the aid sector are meeting with Foreign Minister Bob Carr Wednesday morning. They will walk in greatly strengthened by your support today. In fact, the campaign made such a splash on Tuesday that Mr. Wilkie received phone calls immediately after the press conference from several Ministers.
So, what's next?
Over the next three days, our friends at Oaktree will be running a huge campaign on the ground in important marginal electorates. They'll be talking to voters about the importance of this foreign aid promise to make sure MPs know that they won't be able to get away with cutting aid.
We only have two weeks left until the Federal Budget. Let's get out and do some old-school campaigning. Click below to find an event near you over the next few days:
With thanks,
Sam, for the GetUp team.
PS - If you'd like personally to support impoverished communities, you might like to take the Live Below the Line challenge, run by our friends at Oaktree Foundation. The challenge is to live, yourself, on less than $2 a day ( the global poverty line) to raise money for education and health projects that help our poorest neighbours. Register at www.livebelowtheline.org. You can even join the GetUp team!
