An Australian woman has launched an online petition that seeks to redirect the country’s foreign aid to the rehabilitation of flood-ravaged infrastructure in Queensland.
Effie Mourginos is appealing to southsiders to sign the petition that urge Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to use overseas aid funding to rebuild suburbs and townships in Queensland, South-East Advertiser, a local daily, reports.
“I recently heard we had donated money to Indonesia which is great but I think that money needs to be redirected back into Queensland to help us rebuild the state,” Mourginos said.
According to reports, rebuilding the Australian region from the recent massive flooding would cost some USD5 billion.
Gillard has argued that foreign aid funding helps address Australia’s interests by ensuring that regional neighbors remain “peaceful places.”
“And I do stress, of course, that the world has also responded to help Australia during our hour of need,” she said.
AusAID is expected to provide 4.3 billion Australian dollars (USD4.35 billion) in overseas aid for the 2010-2011 financial year.
