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Australia spent more money securing filming of Pirates of the Caribbean than for Ebola
- 1 DAY AGO OCTOBER 17, 2014
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THE Australian Government says it’s committed to stopping the spread of Ebola, but the reality is the money we’ve committed isn’t even enough to make a Hollywood movie about it.
It was revealed earlier this month that the government coughed up $21.6 million to entice Disney to film the fifth instalment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise in Queensland.
This dwarfs the $18 million Australia has committed to the Ebola cause.
Will Orlando Bloom return to our shores for Pirates of the Caribbean V? Source: Supplied
Wonder what Geoffrey Rush thinks of all this? Source:Supplied
Where are our priorities? Medical staff in protective gear escort Nina Pham to a nearby aircraft at Love Field in Dallas. Pham, a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, was diagnosed with the Ebola virus after caring for Thomas Eric Duncan who died of the same virus. Picture: Tony Gutierrez Source: AP
Australia has been criticised for not providing enough assistance to battle and contain Ebola, which has killed 4500 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea alone.
Labor believes Australia should be actively doing more and has renewed calls for the government to support volunteer health workers who want to go to the region.
While Health Minister Peter Dutton said today, “Our response is to go above what is recommended by international health authorities”, Prime Minister Tony Abbott says there is “no way” of getting “boots on the ground” in the fight against the virus, with Australia unwilling to provide military personnel to help contain the outbreak.
Disney confirmed shooting for the next chapter in the adventure series would begin in Australia in February.
Arts Minister George Brandis trumpeted their acceptance of the $21.6 million incentive as a “landmark deal” that would “focus the world’s attention on Australia as a leading film destination”.
Australia’s $18 million commitment to Ebola is also put into perspective when you consider that the government spent almost $43 million on its failed bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Also, our Ebola spend contrasts with the $90 million we’ve devoted to the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
The search for the missing plane has chewed up a huge amount of resources from Australia, with our spend alone now almost double the $48 million (€32m) it cost to find the missing Air France flight AF337, which took two years.
It is also worth noting that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has offered $25 million from his personal fortune for the cause.
Australia committed $21.6 million to secure funding for the next Pirates film. Source: Supplied
Australia has had its fair share of Pirates stars, including model Gemma Ward. Source: Supplied
Healthcare workers in protective gear work at an Ebola treatment centre in the west of Freetown, Sierra Leone. The deadly Ebola virus has infected two people in what was the last untouched district in Sierra Leone, the government said Thursday. Picture: Michael Duff Source: AP
The government has so far refused to send health workers or defence personnel into Ebola-affected areas because there are no safe evacuation procedures in place.
The 30-hour flight to Australia is long enough for someone with Ebola symptoms to die and the government hasn’t been able to secure extraction agreements with countries such as the US.
“We have an obligation to ensure that various risk mitigation strategies are in place and at the moment they’re not and they can’t be,” Mr Abbott said.
“It would be irresponsible of an Australian government to order Australian personnel into this very dangerous situation if we didn’t have effective risk mitigation strategies in place and at the moment there is no way of doing that.”
Post by Peter Dutton.
Australia has allocated $5 billion in foreign aid for the 2014-15 financial year, but while we are the second largest aid donor to East Asia and the Pacific, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said injecting more resources and money into containing Ebola in West Africa is “clinically and logistically unsafe”.
Frighteningly, the United Nations trust fund for Ebola has a mere $100,000 in cash, a small piece of the $1 billion pie needed to tackle the situation, according to officials.
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