Australian Prime minister pledges $500,000 to help save orangutans
Exclusive By Sharri Markson
November 11, 2007
PRIME Minister John Howard has made his most bizarre promise of the election campaign - pledging $500,000 to save endangered apes in Borneo and Sumatra.
This unusual undertaking resulted from a chance meeting between the PM and an 11-year-old boy inspired by a Steve Irwin show.
Daniel Clarke met Mr Howard in the the Wallabies rugby team’s dressing room after the Test against Wales in May and took the chance to bend his ear about orang-utans.
Last week Mr Howard and his wife, Janette, visited Daniel’s home to tell him he had $500,000 to donate to the cause.
No one was more shocked by the announcement than Daniel’s parents, Rodney, 40, and Penny, 45, who were given less than a day’s notice of the visit.
“It was an unusual request, but then they are unusual creatures, aren’t they?,” Mr Howard said as he sat on the Clarkes’ verandah.
This unusual undertaking resulted from a chance meeting between the PM and an 11-year-old boy inspired by a Steve Irwin show.
Daniel Clarke met Mr Howard in the the Wallabies rugby team’s dressing room after the Test against Wales in May and took the chance to bend his ear about orang-utans.
Daniel, who is wheelchair bound and suffers cerebral palsy, asked Mr Howard to help save his favourite animal. After all, he said, you are the Prime Minister.
Kneeling beside Daniel’s wheelchair, Mr Howard said he would think about it.
Extraordinarily, six months later Last week Mr Howard and his wife, Janette, visited Daniel’s home to tell him he had $500,000 to donate to the cause.
No one was more shocked by the announcement than Daniel’s parents, Rodney, 40, and Penny, 45, who were given less than a day’s notice of the visit.to scrub, tidy and landscape their family home.
Invited to the gathering, The Sunday Telegraph pointed out to Mr Howard that saving great apes in the middle of a tight campaign was, well, strange.
“It was an unusual request, but then they are unusual creatures, aren’t they?,” Mr Howard said as he sat on the Clarkes’ verandah.
“They are worth preserving and I think the idealism of children should be encouraged.
“I thought, ‘Gee if somebody is asking me to save the orang-utans in the Wallabies dressing room, he’s pretty resourceful’. I was really quite affected by it so I said to my staff we’ve got to do something about it.”
Daniel said he was happy with Mr Howard’s response.
“It was really nice of him to come to my home. He’s going to help me save the orang-utans,” he said.
Apart from orang-utans, Daniel and the Prime Minister found they have something else in common.
Two days before the Federal election on November 24, Daniel faces an important poll of his own, when he will pitch to become school captain of Terrey Hills Public School.
“He might give me some tips,” Mr Howard said.
The 40-minute visit was just one stop in Mr Howards jam-packed day of campaigning last Monday, but for the Clarke’s it was an ordeal.
An entourage accompanied the Prime Minister’s arrival, including press secretaries, security, extra staff, drivers and an advance team.
It turned out the security weren’t needed. The only threat was a group of 15 primary school children who mobbed the PM, begging for autographs on the quiet suburban street.
Source: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22739207-5001021,00.html
