Australia’s latest parliamentary elections shook the aid sector, ushering in new faces and whisking away stalwarts. Thanks to the work of NGO RESULTS Australia, however, one issue remains relatively unscathed by the transition: Australian support for tuberculosis.
RESULTS built and leveraged relationships, linked TB to urgent political priorities, and continued their public campaigning throughout the political changes. That formula helped convince new MPs to increase Australia’s funding for the Global Fund to AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by 10 percent, to $160 million in September.
The success offers clues for other nongovernmental organizations looking to build support in the Parliament, which was elected in July. The government holds just a one seat majority and new members of the Parliament hold philosophies on foreign aid. RESULTS’ experience, however, indicates that common ground is possible.
About the author
Lisa Cornishlisa_cornish
Lisa Cornish is a former Devex Senior Reporter based in Canberra, where she focuses on the Australian aid community. Lisa has worked with News Corp Australia as a data journalist and has been published throughout Australia in the Daily Telegraph in Melbourne, Herald Sun in Melbourne, Courier-Mail in Brisbane, and online through news.com.au. Lisa additionally consults with Australian government providing data analytics, reporting and visualization services.
