MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Gallus
The Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Chris Gallus, will represent Australia in the Pacific at Kiribati's 25th Anniversary of Independence celebrations on 12 July.
As a gift from Australia, Mrs Gallus will present a collection of 500 books to the Kiribati National Library.
'We hope this gift will help promote literacy and reading, especially amongst the young i-Kiribati,' Mrs Gallus said.
'The gift includes books chosen by the Australian National Library as well as technical and catalogue training assistance.
Mrs Gallus will also meet with President Anote Tong, who has strongly supported the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands and will deploy a third police contingent in September 2004.
'Australia will contribute almost $12 million in 2004-05 in development assistance to Kiribati, which includes health and education initiatives and tertiary scholarships for young i-Kiribati,' Mrs Gallus said.
Kiribati became independent from Britain on 12 July 1979 and has a population of less than 90,000 people.
Media contacts:
Shane Fairlie (Mrs Gallus' office) 02 6277 4840 or 0408 680 442
Jo Elsom (AusAID) 02 6206 4960 or 0412 804 489