Canberra & ABC interview: here I am.

By Josephine and David Briffa -

David finally arrives in Canberra on Sunday 7thDec, two days earlier than expected. He got in at 11.15 am. Soon after that the Salvation Army Corps in Altona rang him after the church service. He talked to the church community from his mobile as it was placed close to the microphone for everyone to hear. Needless to say, there was a lot of smiling faces that were beaming with pride as he was talking.

During his rest period, David did some research and organised an interview with the 666 ABC Canberra.

9.00 am Wednesday morning, David recieved a phonecall from the 666 ABC Canberra for an interview with Alex Sloan on her breakfast show. Although a little apprehensive about doing a live interview on live radio, David was looking forward to the challenge. It was to go on air at 10.45 am.

Not long after he got to the studio, the Production Manager popped his head in and told David he would be on air LIVE in 5 minutes (lucky David has the ability to think on his feet, it came in handy). He was ushered into a glass room and seated when the ON AIR signal went on. The interview started and finished in a flash. You can hear it by linking to the URL below or going to the 666 ABC Canberra website in the 0900 mornings with Alex Sloan.

http://blogs.abc.net.au/canberra/2008/12/cycling-4-afric.html?program=canberra_mornings


David was asked many questions about his cycling4africa journey, however, he didn't have enough time to say more (which is always the case!), this is where the blog comes in handy.

He wanted to also say that while Australia predominantly directs International Development Assistance in the Pacific Asia region, it is imprtant to recognise the enormous challenges the Sub Saharan African countries are facing in the midst of economic global crisis. The security of the developed world will depend (amongst other things) on economic and social stability of the developing world.

While l'll acknowledge the the Labor Government's commitment to .5% of Gross National Income to International Develpoment Assisstance, Australia needs to aim towards that aspirational figure of .7% agreed to at the Monterrey Consensus (and within a binding time frame by 2015) for the Millennium Development Goals to be achievable.

Privilage comes at a price.

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