Mr Lunn is a global citizenship campaigner who was in Launceston on Thursday to talk to St Patrick’s College students about polio eradication, Australian Aid and new global goals for sustainable development.

Mr Lunn said he tried to educate and encourage people on how to be active and effective global citizens.

‘‘We don’t realise that we are having a positive impact in the world and that’s the hard thing,’’ Mr Lunn said.

Mr Lunn said Tasmanians had an advantage because of their ‘‘connectedness’’.

‘‘The simplest and most effective advice I can give people is to know good people who do good things and to join them,’’ he said.

Mr Lunn said that today 9.6 per cent of the world was living in extreme poverty compared to 52 per cent in 1981.

‘‘Most people think all these problems are getting worse when actually we are ending poverty faster and more effectively than we ever have before,’’ he said.

Similarly, in less than 35 years Rotary International’s End Polio Now campaign had seen the elimination of polio from 125 endemic countries.

Mr Lunn said he was impressed by those he’d spoken to at St Patrick’s College and was hopeful more people would embrace opportunities to make the world a better place.

‘‘I think the future is amazing in the hands of some of these really engaged and knowledgeable young people,’’ Mr Lunn said.