MP's move against child slavery

The Advertiser, Adelaide, 9 April 2008

Chocolate made using child slavery will be banished from Parliament under a plan by South Australian MP Christopher Pyne.

Mr Pyne was inspired by World Vision chief Tim Costello and U.S. ethics professor Dr David Batstone, who are attempting to abolish slave labour by removing the market for goods.

In Adelaide this week Mr Costello said Australians were helping to finance international child slavery.

He highlighted the plight of children enslaved to provide coffee, chocolate and clothing to the West.

"Chocolate is cheap for us because of trafficked children and child labour," he said.

"Seventy per cent of the world's cocoa comes out of the Ivory Coast and Ghana (where it is harvested by child slaves)." Mr Costello said many other products, including iron, coffee and clothing come from a supply chain that included children.

"The great need is actually for the consumer to really demand transparency in the supply chain," he said.

After meeting Mr Costello and Dr Batstone, Mr Pyne decided to write to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd with his plan to remove all non fair-trade chocolate from vending machines in all Parliamentary offices.

"I think this is a very worthy cause," he said.

"I think most constituents in my electorate would be horrified to know that there are 27 million slaves in the world today, many are children, and they're being used."

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