Kevin Rudd, ex-Prime Minister of Australia, since receiving a nasty knife wound to the back last June, has again captured the national and international limelight.

Eclipsing those who thought they had finished him off.

As Minister for Foreign Affairs, he has been at the three-day Summit on the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.

He announced (with a flourish of eloquent Rudd-isms) that Australia will contribute almost a quarter of a billion dollars to improving the health of the world’s women and children.

“Let’s be honest,” he said, “Donor countries have made commitments that they haven’t honoured . . . less than half the funding pledged to Africa five years ago . . . has not been delivered . . . the answer is to do that which we say that we will do . . . .”

He also outclassed Mr Obama, whose speech beat around the bush, as you might say.

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Giving money to save women’s and children’s lives — actually doing it – sounds great. Let’s hope it really happens.

With the Greens Party now controlling ALP policy-making, some doubts must exist:

* to the Greens, doesn’t helping women mainly mean ensuring that there are plenty of abortions in the Third World?

The Greens’ Population Policy says governments should “increase contributions to programs that empower women and increase their access to a wide range of safe family planning options”  (Policy 14)

That’s Greens-speak for “safe killing of unborn babies . . .”

* doesn’t helping children, Greens-style, mean making education secular and also positively perverse in pushing a variant of Evolution Theory that mocks God . . . ?

Plus pushing homosexuality as an option just as valid as traditional marriage and parenthood?

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Many taxpayers would rather their tax dollars went to running Australia efficiently — leaving support for the overseas poor to non-government agencies which they trust more.

My favourite aid program is the Society of Saint Pius the Tenth Mission in Palayamkottai, South India. Their main projects are Veritas Academy School and Servi Domini Orphanage.

Information can be obtained (and donations accepted) at: Indian Mission, c/o 20 Robin Crescent, Woy Woy, NSW 2256.

See pictures of the mission at:  www.sspxasia.com/Countries/India/apostle22_pg2-3.pdf